


Never gonna give you up

by preciousbean



Series: Never gonna give you up [1]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Romance, SUPER SLOW BUILD, Science Fiction, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Violence, Weird Plot Shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-08-30 06:20:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 235,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8521852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciousbean/pseuds/preciousbean
Summary: What happens after Will returns, and Eleven disappears right under their eyes?A story about growing up, moving on, letting go of your past... Oh. And about love.Definitely about love.





	1. Prologue. How do we sleep while our beds are burning?

**Prologue. How do we sleep while our beds are burning? ******

There were some things that she had never even thought she would see.

********

She had not seen the sun, nor she had seen the moon. She had seen pictures and had gotten really interested in the shining lights far, far away in the sky. All information she had gathered about the outside world had felt nothing compared to actually seeing the white light, shining on the dark night sky, when rain had prickled her shivering skin for the first time in her life.

********

There had been people to feed her, food that hadn't tasted like anything. People to talk her into doing things she didn't want to do, afraid of getting punished if she didn't obey. She hadn't really known what dark and tight meant before crawling through the dark and tight pipe, to get away from the unknown - only to face another in where she stumbled out.

********

She hadn't known the true concept of care and love, either.

********

There hadn't been anyone for her, in her short existence, except for papa. He was the only one who spoke to her. He was the only one who had told her what she should call him. No one else had a name to her. 

********

And her name was only a number.

********

And papa turned out to be a mouth breather.

********

But then came Benny. Then came her friends. Then came people who cared about what she had to say and cared about whether she was feeling cold, tired, or hungry. They cared to give her food that tasted like something. They cared enough to give her a name. 

********

El, short for Eleven.

********

And she didn't mind giving something back to them. 

********

To Benny, who had lost his life because of her. 

********

To the boy, Will, who still was in the upside down because of a monster she had found from the darkness. 

********

To the girl, Barbara, who she had been too late to save. 

********

To her friends, to Dustin and Lucas, who had risked their lives in order to keep her safe. 

********

And to Mike, who was not a friend, not a brother, but something else. To Mike, who had saved her.

********

So she gave them everything she could give.

********

And it hurt more than she had ever, in her wildest imaginations, thought that a person could feel. 

********

She ached, burned and felt cold - all at the same time. Her skin teared apart, turning into dust around her. She felt and heard how her head hummed in the immense pain. The air smelled like blood.

********

Then the pain stopped. And so did everything else around her, about her. 

********

There were only her, her thoughts and memories, alone in the nothingness. 

********

Was it darkness, or was it blinding light, she couldn't tell. 

********

There was nothing for her to grasp on.

********


	2. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. First real chapter, celebrating 11/11. - preciousbean

**Ain't no sunshine when she's gone**

Karen pulled her son into a hug, who cried and sobbed against her. He didn't say anything - other than the few choked words, telling her that someone was gone. 

A weight settled on her heart at the moment she heard the broken words for the first time. 

 

A day after, chief Hopper wanted to speak to the three boys and called them to the station. 

Mike was the first to get out of the room, and made his way out of the building before anyone could stop him. Dustin and Lucas followed their friend, leaving the confused adults behind.

"We need to talk about...something", the chief told the boys' parents. "Unofficially."

Lucas' father, Mr Sinclair, offered their house to have the conversation in. 

And it seemed that the chief had asked the boys' permission to talk to their parents, not the other way around. 

 

They then learned about their children's past week, every single detail that mattered. The chief told them about the monster, which they couldn't believe at first, the one that had taken Will and Barbara. 

And how Will had been the only one to return. 

He also told them about a girl, who had escaped from the Hawkins laboratory. The girl who had telekinetic abilities, and who had apparently given her life in order to save their children - probably saving their whole town at the same time, too.

They couldn't believe it at first. None of them could ever probably understand all of it. But they understood why their children felt broken, even though they now had their friend back. They had also lost someone on the very same day.

That was the moment that Karen Wheeler felt, more than ever before, that she was a failure as a parent. Her two oldest children, Nancy and Michael, hadn't come to her when in trouble. And she hated herself for that. She had failed and now they both had lost someone dear to them. 

She turned to Ted who sat at the table next to her, staring at the coffee in front of him. 

She would change things in her family, for better.

She would make amends.

 

_Winter, 1983/-84_

 

Will got out of the hospital in a week, only to be put in bed rest at home. 

Then came snow and Christmas, and with them all the visits to their relatives. 

The boys had it hard, none of them sometimes sure if that one week had just been a long nightmare. But it was true, all of it. And no matter how much in doubt the boys were, they knew it.

 

Dustin and Lucas stuck together. They spend time outdoors and indoors, keeping themselves occupied with different games or just simply studying. 

Will liked to spend a lot of time at home, with his family - which they all understood. But he didn't want to be alone and when he knew he would be, he called his friends immediately. 

Mike on the other hand.. He kept to himself. He locked himself into his room for hours, and just wanted to be left alone. 

Nancy worked really hard in getting her brother to open the door, to just let her spend time in the same room as him. Then she got him to talk with her, about nothing important at first. They spoke about the weather, what they would like to have for dinner, which books they were reading... 

Then, one night, he spoke about Eleven. And Nancy deeply regretted not knowing her.

 

Two weeks passed, before Mike called his friends and invited them over to do...something, anything. 

And after that, he didn't pull back into his shell anymore. He managed to smile back, joke around a little, and enjoy other's company. He had truly missed his friends and they had missed him, a lot.

But almost every night, he went to the basement and crawled inside the fort he had made for her.

It was the second one already, as he had kicked down the first, and it was a true masterpiece. Sometimes he fell asleep there - sometimes he cried, until his tears dried on his face and he couldn't get out anything else but soft whimpers.

It was the only place where he allowed himself to truly think about her.

 

The boys, Will included after getting better, went to school normally. 

At first it confused them, how calm and collected everyone were. But then they realized that no one knew. Except for them and all of their families, to whom Hopper had wanted to reveal everything, and not forgetting the laboratory of Hawkins and the people working there. 

But the rest of the population, in the small town... they knew nothing. 

They thought that the boy, Will Byers, had died and miraculously came back. But no one knew about the girl who had saved them. No one knew, so no one mourned for Eleven. 

It was their grief, something more personal than anything else in their lives before. 

And when the time came, none of them wanted to go to the snow ball. Not without her. 

 

The boys had told Will all about her and after some time, he admitted remembering her himself. 

"She was there, once or maybe twice, I'm not sure", Will told them. 

They were having a sleepover in the basement of the Wheeler house, all of them situated on the floor in a row of sleeping bags.

"She was?", Mike whispered, words sticking to his throat. 

"Yeah", Will told them softly. "...she told me to wait, that my mom was coming to save me."

Dustin chuckled in the dark. "Did she actually use so many words?" 

Mike felt a small smile tug his lips, just as he heard Lucas snigger softly beside him.

"What do you mean?", Will asked.

Silence fell into the basement, until Lucas spoke: "She... she wasn't good with words. I think she was never taught to speak like we have", he finished in a low voice.

"...Oh."

"She isn't", Mike whispered.

"Huh?"

"She _isn't_ good with words, not in the past tense, please", his voice broke in the end.

"I'm sorry", Lucas muttered from next to him. "But we have to accept what's real, Mike, and tha--."

"You can't prove to me that she's gone", Mike interrupted. "I know she's still there, somewhere."

"Mike--."

"No. I just know, alright."

They were all quiet for a while. The sound of the television in the living room was the only thing they heard, muffled by the door and the distance. 

Then, Dustin spoke, bringing everyone back from their minds: 

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"What was it like?". 

He didn't even need to say more. They knew what he meant. The upside down was a subject the boys had been afraid to talk about. 

In the darkness you couldn't see, but the boys knew that their friend thought hard about the answer. 

"Like your worst nightmare", Will told them then, slowly, his usually soft voice gone stiff. 

"Except it doesn't end", Dustin whispered.

"No, it doesn't", Will agreed. Then, a while after he added: "Mike? Are you asleep?"

Mike hoped that he could have fallen asleep before Dustin's question, along with the following thoughts from his friends. He felt tears on his face and was afraid to answer, in case his voice would break.

"Guess he's asleep", Lucas said. "It's too dark to see if his eyes are closed or not."

 

When school continued after the holidays, Mike felt numb. 

He went to school, did his homework, and spend time with his friends almost every day. But it wasn't like it used to, not like the times before Will went missing. 

He felt like something inside of him had disappeared - something about him had changed, and he wasn't sure if he could ever go back to what he used to be.

Mike hadn't had enough time to say goodbye.

 

_Spring, 1984_

 

In spring, Mike spent one week at home, sick with flu. Holly had the same thing so she laid with him on the living room sofa for the whole week, watching movies. 

It could have happened because of his high fever, but the movie E.T. made him cry. 

 

He kept looking for her, well, they all did. They just didn't admit it out loud. Instead of saying that they were searching for their friend, they went to bike rides. It would be too real otherwise.

The boys knew every nook of Hawkins better than ever before. They walked around the forests in the day time, careful not to go too deep. And in the evenings, even if it was getting dark, they rode their bikes around the town. Simply looking around.

 

Whenever Mike was on his bike, he remembered her. The way she had hold on to him, wrapped her arms around him. 

And whenever he saw the blue shirt he had loaned to her, he remembered her. 

He couldn't use it anymore.

He sometimes stopped what ever he was doing, just to sit down with the shirt in his hands. 

And in the evenings, when all the boys were in their homes, Mike sat on his bed with his supercom, wishing to hear even a peep of Eleven.

He even spoke to her sometimes, whispered words before falling asleep. 

He hoped that she had some place safe to lay her head down and close her eyes, without being afraid. He hoped that she ate well, and that she wasn't cold because the nights still were. He hoped that she could hear him and return. 

Mike couldn't admit her being gone, not forever. 

Not for real.

He couldn't tear down the blanket fort in the basement.

 

When Mike didn't come to school one morning, Will, Dustin, and Lucas stared at his empty desk the whole day, all of them in deep thought.

"He must be sick", Lucas said for the umpteenth time, while hopping on his bike after school. 

"We could stop by his house", Dustin shrugged, gaining nods as an answer.

"Yeah", Will agreed, glancing at both the boys. "Take his homework and stuff."

 

Dustin knocked on the door and after a few seconds, Mrs Wheeler opened it.

"Hello, boys", Karen said, her eyebrows high in wonder while her gaze wandered over them. "...Where is Michael?"

The three froze for a second.

"Actually--."

"We raced here", Lucas interrupted Will. "Guess we beat him, huh", he joked, laughing forcefully, slapping both his friends' backs.

"Yeah", Dustin tried to grin. "Ha ha."

Karen looked at them, laughter and confusion in her eyes. "Do you boys want to come inside, to wait for him, or...?"

"No, no", Will hurried. "I think we're going to surprise him", he suggested, turning to his friends. "Right?"

Lucas and Dustin nodded and the trio grabbed their bikes, leaving an amused Karen behind.

 

"Where the heck is he?", Lucas shouted. "I swear to god, if he's missing, like really missing, I'm going to kill someone."

They had biked around the town for a while, having seen no sight of their friend. 

"He's fine", Dustin tried to assure all of them. "Probably just... looking for her."

"Why alone?", Will asked. "He could've asked us, or at least told us what he was going to do."

"I don't know", Lucas pushed his other pedal back suddenly, making his friends stop too. "But we need a plan."

"So, you think he's looking for her?", Will asked Dustin, who nodded.

"Probably, yeah. He's not giving up."

"How far could he have gone?", Lucas asked.

"His bike was gone...", Dustin said, eyes widening in realization. "It wasn't there."

"So quite far, then", Will sighed, looking around.

"Think hard", Lucas told them sternly. "We go to the forest almost everyday, to the places we've been with her--."

"The quarry", Dustin interrupted his friend. "The quarry!", he shouted then, smacking his forehead.

"The quarry?", Will asked slowly. 

"Where she broke Troy's arm", the boy said, eyes widening. "No, no, no..."

"What?", Lucas asked.

"We need to hurry!", Dustin shouted. "Let's go! Come on!"

'He might do something stupid', was the only thing he needed to say, to get the two to quicken their pace.

They rode their bikes as fast as they could, all of them out of breath. Dustin was the first to spot him, already knowing what to look for, and he pointed at the right direction for his two friends.

The boys all had their hearts at their throats.

 

Mike stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the water.

He turned around on his spot when he heard the ground rustle behind him and simply stared at his friends, who weren't sure what they should do.

"We have been looking for you for a while", Lucas begun while evening his breath, eyebrows furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

Mike glanced down again, shaking a little as the wind blew harder.

Dustin's throat felt dry. "If you jump", he said, causing the boy turn back to them and him, "she's not here to save you this time."

 _This time_. It echoed itself in Will and Lucas' heads. They looked at their friends in horror, clearly not knowing everything.

"Can you prove that?", Mike asked after a while, his voice shaky, as he stared at his friend. "She came, you know, s-she came back..."

"She had run away", Dustin tried to explain, taking a step closer. "Not vanished into air."

Tears fell down Mike's cheeks as he looked at his friends, clearly debating with himself. "I-I don't know what to do anymore", he choked.

"Don't jump", Dustin told him fast. "We can look for her, ask our parents for help - heck, we can even ask the lab", he rambled, "but don't do this. Don't do this to us."

Mike sobbed, standing still on the edge, before looking back down again. "It wasn't that bad", he told them slowly, taking a deep breath. "Falling down."

"If you hit the water, you'll die", Dustin said, taking another step closer. "That doesn't help anyone. Not you, not us, and it doesn't help El--", he shut his mouth, stopping to his place.

It was the first time that anyone of them had said her name out loud.

Mike took a ragged breath. "She came then--."

"She did, Mike", Dustin agreed. "But--."

"But what if she cannot come now?", Lucas chimed in. "You think she would love to come back, only to realize you're dead? And why? Because you risked your life for a stupid theory?"

"When she comes back, she'll want to see you", Will said in a weak voice. "She'll want to see all of you."

Dustin chose that moment to grasp onto Mike, and pulled him away from the edge with him. They fell to the ground, Mike apologizing in a river of sobbed words, while his friends gathered around him offering all the comfort they could.

 

Lucas made sure to go together to school with Mike after that. And even though the boy knew the reason for it, he didn't say anything. 

It was probably a good idea to have someone waiting for you outside of your house every morning, forcing for you to get up and continue your life.

 

 

_Summer, 1984_

 

Dustin and Lucas were starting to give up all hope. 

It wasn't like Mike wouldn't notice how they started having other things they wanted to do, other than all of them being together. They gave made up excuses, more frequently after time passed. 

But Will stood by him. Mike asked him about it once, why he wanted to help find Eleven, to which the boy didn't have a straight answer. Will simply felt like this was what he needed to do. 

Mike didn't say it, but that was how he felt too. As if looking for her, having hope even though it felt crazy, was the only way to stay sane.

 

The four boys had gone to the junk yard once again, on a warm evening of a hot summer day. 

Dustin and Lucas told Will stories about Eleven, about the times she had used her powers, and Mike listened - holding tight to the memories of her.

"She's like a superhero", Will said suddenly. 

"Yeah", Dustin laughed. "But better."

"Of course she is", Mike mumbled, and felt a blush creep on his face right afterwards. Dustin put a hand onto his shoulder and squeezed. 

Will studied his own hands for a second. They all were thinking about the same thing.

"Do you think she's in the upside down?", Dustin asked slowly after a while, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"Maybe", Lucas said, at the same time that Will whispered: "I hope not."

Under the hard, sad stare of his friends, the smaller boy gulped.

"I really hope she's not in there", Will spoke up, averting his gaze. "She sounds strong, but it's been half a year now. Almost eight months, and she's not back. I was there for a week and I... I--." His shoulders slumped and Mike felt like they had broke their friend. 

He went to Will's side, wrapping him into a hug. Dustin followed, Lucas not far behind. They stood like that for a while, in an awkward group hug of four. Mike felt someone of them sniffle, and he couldn't help but let his tears fall down too.

 

Jim had come to help Joyce with dinner, straight from work, just like on most of the days during a week. Jonathan was nowhere to be seen, probably out or in work, but they knew that Will would come home soon. 

The boys had never asked what was going on between the two adults, and their mother was somewhat glad as they hadn't had a talk about it yet. For now, Jim simply spend a lot of time with her and her family, both needing the company.

They had just put the food on the table when they heard the door go, and Will shuffled into the dining room less than a minute later. 

"Hi", the boy muttered, sitting down and simply looking at the bowl of spaghetti and meatballs in front of him. He didn't feel hungry.

"Hi", Joyce said in return, worry written on her face. She cast a helpless look at Jim, before turning back to her son. "Honey, is everything okay?", she asked, clasping Will's hand in hers from across the table.

The boy rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "I guess", he started, before freeing his other hand to drink some water. "We talked about Eleven", he told them softly, looking at his mother after glancing at Jim who had stopped eating. "Is she--. Do you think she'll come back?"

Joyce forced a small smile on her face, while looking at her son. "I hope so, honey, I really do."

"You think she's in the upside down, am I right?", Jim asked slowly. "You all do, don't you?"

Will looked at Jim, the man he had known for over half a year but who meant so much already. More than what his father ever had. 

"You were there, too", Will gulped, turning to eye at his food again. He moved it around the plate with his fork. "It's bad."

"I know", Jim nodded. "I want you to know, that I never stopped looking for her", he added. "And I will continue to look for her, you understand?"

It was Will's turn to nod and he did. He felt a hand on his back, stroking gently, and he lifted his eyes to look at Jim.

But the man had turned to Joyce, and after a few seconds Will saw his mother cover her mouth with a hand.

"Okay", she whispered. "But you'll eat first. Both of you", she added, pointing at her son's plate.

"What's 'okay'?", Will asked slowly, confused, while looking between the two adults.

"Eat now", Jim pointed at his food, after which he continued with his own. "I'll show you something after that."

 

"--and he's been bringing food here ever since", Will finished explaining what Jim had told him the night before.

They - Will, Mike, Dustin and Lucas - had left their bikes at the side of the road and made their way to the wooden box. They stood there for a few seconds, staring at it and each other. 

Startling everyone, Mike reached down in a hurry to open the lid.

"That's what we brought last night", Will said softly, after looking inside with his friends. 

There, in the same place as where he had put them, sat a tupperware of meatballs and next to it a whole box of eggos. The boys had told him so many times of Eleven's love of the frozen waffles, how could he not bring them?

Mike laughed nervously next to him, while Dustin and Lucas both looked as confused as one could in a situation like theirs.

Dustin finally broke the silence. "Oh man.. She's been here?"

"Someone's been here to take the food", Will said slowly. "Jim said that he has never seen anyone, but almost every time he comes here the food is gone."

"So, he too believes that she's alive", Lucas confirmed to himself slowly, then turned to Will. "Does Hopper believe that she's here? In our world?" He waved his hands around, between the box on the ground and the sky. "Because how could she get these from _there_?"

"He thinks that she could get these, whether she's here or...there", Will answered, looking uncomfortable.

He understood it, what Jim meant. He knew some of it, how the parallel universe worked with theirs, but not all by any means. So, he was quite open minded to this. It was worth the shot.

"How long has Hopper been doing this?", Mike asked suddenly, eyeing the box.

Lucas sighed and looked at his friend. "It might not be her, Mike."

"For how long?", the boy repeated stubbornly. 

"I don't know, since Christmas, I guess", Will offered, sharing a look with Lucas and Dustin. 

Mike chewed his lip, eyebrows furrowed and gaze still on the box. 

Lucas shook his head. "It might not be her, you hear me?"

"Then who, who could it be?", Mike challenged. "She could be near us right now. Don't you want to find her?" He then turned on his spot, starting to head deeper into the forest.

"Of course we do!" Dustin raised his voice, lifting his hands to his curly hair. "We miss her just as much as you do!"

"El!", Mike shouted, keeping up his pace. 

"She can't hear you", Lucas said, running after the boy.

"EL!"

"She can't hear you!" Lucas repeated, trying to grasp onto his friend's arm but Mike yanked it away.

"IT'S ME!", the boy yelled, voice cracking. "AND LUCAS, AND DUSTIN, AND WILL!"

Dustin looked at his friends in worry, opening and closing his mouth in a slow motion, unsure what to do. 

"Mike, she won't--!", Lucas tried again, but Will stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"If she's here right now, even if she's there, in the upside down, she will."

"COME BACK", Mike was sobbing now. Dustin went to stand by his side, to support his friend with an arm around his shoulders. "Why won't she come back?", the boy cried.

"I don't know, mate", Dustin choked, looking into the woods before them. "I really don't know."

 

After Will had left the house in the morning to meet with the boys, and Jonathan had left for work, Joyce heard a car drive to the yard. She walked to the front door with a tea cup in her hands and met with Jim on the porch.

"Good morning", she smiled to the man, who nodded back.

"Morning", Jim murmured, before looking past the smaller woman and into the house. "Coffee?"

"I'll make you some", Joyce said with a laugh, motioning for him to follow her inside.

"Thanks", he said as he slumped down on the couch, rubbing his face.

"Long night?", Joyce asked from the kitchen.

"I wasn't at work."

A second later the woman walked into the living room. "Oh", she started, taking in his tired eyes which were cast down to his shoes.

"I was in the woods the whole night", he confessed, slowly letting the words out. 

He had been doing that for a while now, not every night but often. 

When the guilt tightened its hold around him, he sat down by the box to calm down. And it helped, a little. Like water helped someone who had spend a week in the desert, under the burning sun, but it didn't help you forget the feeling of how horrible it had been.

"She'll come back when she's ready", Joyce told him softly.

Jim messed his already messy hair and sighed. "What if she doesn't want to come back?"

He had sold her out, hoping to save another child on her expense. He couldn't really blame her, if she didn't want to return. If she couldn't trust anyone, anymore. He was the one who had told the children to trust him, he had been the one. 

It was one of Will's books, which they boy had talked about with his mother, that had really opened his eyes.

He was freaking Lando Calrissian.

And knowing how the boys felt about the man...It didn't help, no.

Joyce stood there for a while, but she didn't dare to say anything. Jim looked hurt, and she was afraid that she would somehow make it worse. So she disappeared back into the kitchen instead and came back with a large cup of coffee, which she put on the table before Jim.

"Here you go", she murmured, sitting down next to the man.

"Thank you."

"It's just coffee, Jim."

"For everything, I mean", he rasped out, casting a subtle glance at her.

"I know...", she said, smiling a little at him. "I'm more than thankful to you too, you know."

Jim chuckled into his mug and sipped. Then he hummed in a low voice. "The best coffee, I swear."

"That's the only thing I manage", Joyce laughed, causing Jim to look at her. 

"Oh, I know. I was there when the boys went to see Lonnie."

"Shut up. You promised not to bring that up again."

"I did, but how can anyone ruin mac and cheese? Let's be realistic here, you shouldn't be let into the kitchen, not even near it. Luckily it was only for the weekend, otherwise you would've ended up burning the house."

"You're off from work today, right? You cook, then", Joyce challenged him.

Jim puffed out his chest. "I'll provide for you", he told her in a low, weird voice.

"You're such a weirdo, you know that, Jim Hopper?", she told him, trying to be serious.

"Of course I know that, Joyce Byers", he looked at her, eyes twinkling with laughter. "I also know that you wouldn't have me any other way."

That earned him a playful slap onto his arm and laughter.

"Also, that's why I'm worthy of your coffee, your highness", he said and bowed his head.

That earned him a slap on the back of his head. 

"Enough with the slapping, I'm being nice!", Jim chuckled.

Joyce shook her head, with a smile playing on her face. "Glad you're here, you buffoon."

 


	3. It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you

**It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you**

 

_Fall, 1984_

Even when school continued after summer, Mike kept up with his routines. He rode his bike to and back from school, always taking the same route. It took longer, it zigzagged - but he didn't care. He just wanted to make sure. He passed by all the places he had been with El, within the short time that she had been with them. With him. 

Dustin, Lucas, and Will had all accompanied him in the spring. Even though Will had been coughing since his return, he still kept up with the other boys.

Now it was just him and Will taking the longer road. 

They stopped by the box every other day after school, just to make sure the food and water brought there had been taken. Hopper still wanted to do it and the boys had, somewhat hesitantly, agreed to let him. But it didn't mean they couldn't leave sweets in there, every now and then. Or eggos.

The nights grew colder every day, while the trees got more color. Mike dropped off some warmer clothes one Saturday, along with food, while Nancy waited in the car by the road. She had offered to come with him but he had brushed her off, saying that he'd be quick. 

Every time he was there, he waited for a while. For what, a sign of some kind or something else, he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if he expected her to just bounce from behind a tree or what. 

If it was El, and Mike really hoped it was, she dutifully retrieved the food. Sometimes she skipped a few days, which worried the boys a little. Will had asked Hopper what he thought about it, and he could tell that the man didn't want to worry them. 

So, they tried not to worry.

They waited instead.

 

Mike pedaled a way ahead of Will and got to their landmark sooner, letting his bike fall on the ground while the other boy was more gentle and leaned his own against a tree.

But before he could follow his friend, Will felt another coughing fit coming. He took a sip of his water bottle, hoping that it would wait until he got home, and soon went after his friend - wishing for the best.

Mike crouched before the box and slowly, like he always did, opened the lid. The clothes were gone and the tupperware empty, the container left open. Reaching in Will collected it, pressed it shut, and shoved it into his backpack. He saw his supercom at the same time and paused mid-movement. 

He was just about to open his mouth, when Mike spoke up.

"Do you think she left this here?"

"The container?"

Mike sighed, and Will knew he was missing something. "This? I mean... Just look at it."

Will lowered his gaze, leaning forward, and looked at what his friend was pointing at. It was a rock - dark grey and smoother than any he had seen in a while, laying in the middle of the box. 

How had he missed it? Clearing his throat, he shrugged. "I don't know."

But Mike was already excited. "What could it mean? Is she trying to tell us something?"

"Mike, I've been wondering.."

And his friend turned his attention to him, eyes bright and hopeful. "Yeah?"

Will swallowed and looked at the rock again. "The things she could do... How did she do them?"

He could see Mike pondering over the question. "What do you mean? Moving things or...?"

"Connecting to people." He took out his walkie-talkie and showed it to Mike. His friend looked between him and the object with large eyes. "If we leave this..."

"...and if this box is actually connected to the upside down..."

"...and she gets it, that means she..."

It even felt wrong to think about it. The hope they had, of finding her, was like fudge inside them. Once it had settled there, it would stick till the end. The boys stared at each other, eyes wide.

"Maybe she could contact us", Mike whispered. Then he smiled. 

And even though it was half sad and half optimistic smile, not quite reaching his ears and not showing on his eyes, it was the most real one Mike had had on his face in a really long time. It made Will smile, too. 

He placed his device in the box, along with some extra batteries he carried in his backpack.

"Is this really okay?", Mike asked, glancing at Will.

"Let's just say that I really hope it's not someone else, who takes the food", the boy muttered, and smiled when his friend let out a small chuckle. "But yeah, it's okay. I want to meet her, as much as you all want her back."

He then scribbled a note next to the supercom: _Call Mike._

"I'm not sure if she can read", Mike muttered from behind his back.

"Oh", Will looked at the note with a frown. "Maybe she'll recognize your name, though?"

"Yeah." He could hear the smile on the other boy's voice, without even turning around to see his face.

Before leaving, Mike grabbed the rock and put it into his pocket.

 

The way back to the crossroad between their houses went in a comfortable silence. Mike seemed happier than before, and Will really hoped that his friend would stay that way. 

Once he got home, he coughed out the slimy slug that had wanted to get out for an hour already. 

Almost immediately after being rescued from the upside down, he had got caught throwing up by his mother. And after the shock had settled she had told him to burn them, and they had thought of the best way to do it. 

It had been overwhelming at first, but now he was as used to them as he could be. His mother still looked at him like he would scramble onto the floor any minute, choking onto something dark and evil. 

And Will still visited the upside down. It wasn't like he wanted to go back but he was stuck in the between of the two worlds, bouncing back and forth whenever the nightmare land felt it needed him there. They were mostly flashes, the visits, a few seconds at a time and mostly when he was alone. But they could take longer too, or happen during a class or a game he had been playing with his friends. 

It was hard to act fine sometimes. 

But days weren't that bad. Will busied himself with anything he could think of. It was the nights he was scared of, the darkness and what it held. The thought of waking up in the upside down, unable to come back, returned over and over again. It made him into a shivering mess of a person whenever he was completely alone. 

At first Will hadn't dared to close his eyes, when there were no one else awake in the house. He had stayed up all night long, reading or drawing, comforted by the presence of his dog.

Chewy, renamed by Will and his friends because of his wild fur, had stayed by his side ever since his return. Charles had been a good name, too, but Chewy... 

That was just "pure awesomeness", as Dustin had put it.

He had hung up some of the Christmas lights on the walls of his room, with the help of his mother, immediately after coming home. They calmed him, lighting up the room during the night, reminding him that he was safe. He was home.

With the help of his dog and fantasy books, he tried to escape the squirmy feeling that settled inside of him whenever he was meant to sleep. He needed something else to think about before closing his eyes, and every night he read until he couldn't keep them open anymore. 

But he kept them open as long as he could, so the last thing he would think about wouldn't be anything horrible. For now, he would fall asleep while thinking of hobbits, dwarfs, wizards, and dragons. And each night Chewy slept on the foot of his bed, and it was the best thing he knew. 

 

Will had been having nightmares about it, for weeks, but this was different. It was too realistic to be a dream.

It was the first time he had been pulled into the upside down while asleep.

Dark. That's what it was. And that was all Will could make out of the room, before he couldn't breath. Something huge was coming out and he couldn't even cough. He just couldn't. 

He fell on his knees, breathless, trying to get some air through his nose. Whatever it was...it wasn't coming out. Part of it was in his mouth, the rest of it blocking his throat. 

He lifted his shaking hands up, guiding the other into his mouth, shivering at the feeling of the squirming thing. He then grabbed it with his fingers, slimy and soft, beginning to pull it out once his grip was tight enough. He gagged and whimpered, hold slipping countless of times, but kept pulling nevertheless. 

And before he understood what happened, it had lunged out of his throat and exploded the second it hit the floor. 

He coughed so much that he couldn't hear, couldn't keep his eyes open. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he felt a hand on his back, cold but comforting.

"You are sick?", a soft voice spoke out, the words coming out as a question.

Will nodded. The hand stroked his back, carefully, before pulling away.

"Go back", the voice whispered.

He opened his eyes to say that he couldn't, that he couldn't control it. Instead he found himself back in his room, in his own bed. The lamp on the night table was on, and his book had fallen to the floor by his bed. 

Will swallowed. His mouth tasted like he had eaten something rotten. 

 

After brushing his teeth for the third time, he gave up. The hallway back to his room was dark, and panic made its way into him. 

He opened the nearest door, into his mother's bedroom. Going under the covers he shuffled next to his mother, desperately trying to calm his beating heart. His hands kept shaking as he brought them under the covers, feeling safer that way.

Joyce turned around, and after one look at him she took him in her arms, cradling him close.

"Will?", she whispered.

"Had a nightmare", he whispered back.

"Oh honey, again.." 

In the arms of his mother, he knew he should feel safe. But he didn't. He couldn't stop thinking about the upside down, nor the person who apparently was there. 

Nor the fact that it could be Eleven.

 

"--listening to me? Will?", Lucas waved a hand before Will's face, startling him.

"Sorry?", he asked sheepishly. They were in Mike's basement, after school, playing one of their games. It must've been his turn already. He glanced down at his cards, but after a few seconds he stacked them on the table with a sigh. "I'm tired."

"Did you watch the movie, too? Because I did and wow the effects--".

"Dustin, no one's interested", Lucas interrupted.

"Well I am, rude much?", Dustin huffed back.

"Stop it, both of you", Mike spoke and turned to Will, his eyes filled with worry. "Didn't sleep well?"

"Yeah", Will admitted.

"Are you okay?", the boy continued and looked at him with such concern that it hurt. 

It hurt to lie. It felt like the thousand time already. Will tried to nod, but it came out as a shake of an head.

"You had a nightmare?", Dustin offered.

Giving his friend a small smile, Will fiddled with his hands, nervous about what he was about to say.

"I haven't told you everything", he got out after a few long seconds. 

He cared about his friends so much, that he hadn't wanted to scare them. But by now he was tired of secrets, tired of coming up with excuses every time he had to leave a little earlier. Tired of hiding a jar in his backpack, just in case he wasn't home when it would happen.

So, he told them about the slugs he kept throwing up. About how it happened only once or twice a week now, but almost daily at first. 

His friends looked horrified.

"You-, what do you do to...them?", Lucas asked.

Will looked at the table before him. "I burn them." 

"Good", Dustin spoke up, and it was his turn to be stared at. "That's what they did in the movie--, ah, never mind."

"My mom told me to do so", the boy admitted softly.

"She knows?", Mike asked, gaining a nod back. "Have you told anyone else, other than us?"

"No. I can't tell Jonathan", Will told them, fiddling with his fingers. "He's applying for college, I just can't..."

"I think you should tell him", Lucas spoke up. "I mean, he's your brother. I know I don't have any experience in this, but, it's just--."

"He's family", Mike agreed. "More than we are."

"Can I see one of those?" Dustin asked suddenly. "The slugs? Next time you throw one up."

Will felt like laughing, it sounded so stupid. "Yeah, sure. When it happens in here, I mean."

"It doesn't need to be here, it can be at your house too. Before you burn them and stuff", his friend suggested.

Watching his friend, Will bit the inside of his cheek. "...You still want to hear the rest?"

"There's more?", Lucas winced, but his features immediately softened from shock to worry when his friend glanced at him.

"You know how you complain about me sometimes... about the zoning out, and all?", Will grimaced. This wouldn't be any easier. He decided to threw up the words like he did to the slugs - the quicker out the better. "I sometimes go back there, to the upside down. I can't control it, it just, it sucks me in and suddenly, I'm back in there." 

The four boys sat in silence for a while, mulling over the whole thing. 

"So... They only come out in there?", Lucas asked slowly, wrinkling his nose. "In the upside down?"

"No, but...You don't think I'm...disgusting, do you?" 

The look on Lucas' face worried Will enough for him to ignore everything else.

"Never", came the answer, one by one, from all three of his friends.

"The demogorgon is gone, right?", Dustin asked then, gaining the attention again. "It was really destroyed?" 

Then the boys turned back to Will, who shrugged slowly.

"I don't know", he admitted in a whisper.

"You haven't seen it?", Lucas asked.

Will shook his head. "Haven't even heard it. But I'm never there for long. It, or something else, could still be in there."

"Why did you tell this now?", Mike asked slowly. Will furrowed his eyebrows, which caused the boy's eyes to open wide. "No--, I didn't mean it like that, like we don't care. We do, a lot." Dustin and Lucas nodded along. "It's just.. It's.. You could've told us sooner, you didn't need to be alone with this."

"I was afraid", Will admitted. "And I think...", he trailed off, afraid to word out his thoughts. To build false hope among them.

"What?", Mike asked him. 

Eyeing the boys, Will knew that he had to tell them. They deserved to know.

"I was in the upside down last night. I almost choked on _one of those things_ ", he grimaced. "I tried to pull it out...Then, suddenly, it _flew_ out of my mouth, out of my throat."

He glanced at his friends, all of them, one by one. He couldn't take this back, he couldn't un-say it. 

"And I think she was there."

The words hang in the air, looming over them.

Dustin stood up, startling everyone. "You saw Eleven?"

"I think--."

"Did you see her, Will?", Mike asked him, his whole face lit up with excitement and it hurt him, it hurt so much.

"It wasn't a dream?", Lucas asked right after Mike, gaining a dark glance from the latter.

"I didn't see her, but I'm quite sure it was her", Will told them slowly, choosing his words carefully. "But it wasn't a dream."

"What did she say?"

"Is she okay?"

"Is she coming back?"

Will took a deep breath, knowing he would disappoint them. 

"She asked if I was sick, I answered yes. Then she told me to go, to come back here. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room." He looked at Dustin, Lucas and Mike - all of them. Their disappointment was visible on their faces. "I'm sorry, guys..."

"It's okay", Mike turned to the game on the table. "It's not your fault."

Dustin sat back down, brows furrowed because of intense thinking. 

But Lucas stared at him. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, man." He shook his head slowly, once, twice. Then sighed. "Screw it. Will, you can't do anything about going back in there, right?"

The boy nodded, already knowing where the conversation was going.

"And you'll always come back, no matter what?" Lucas' eyes were filled with worry and what Will thought was determination. 

Both of those things were something that all the boys shared, and what made them such great friends. 

"I'm going to look for her", Will promised. "Every chance I get."

"It's dangerous", Mike got out slowly, gaze jumping between his friends. "We got Will back, we don't want to loose him again--."

"What's up with you?", Dustin questioned. "All this time, we've been looking for her. This is the best chance we've got. Will comes back, okay? We're not loosing him."

"I know", the boy whispered, clearly feeling confused about the whole thing.

"It's fine, Mike", Will tried to assure him. "I have always came back."

 

Later that day, Will sat down with his mother, Jonathan, and Jim after dinner. The chief had made casserole, something super simple but delicious. And Joyce acted like they had made it together, but the food didn't have a funny taste in it like her cooking usually had. Will and Jonathan hadn't said anything, they had just smiled at each other over the table.

"Is this about your birthday?", Jonathan asked. "I promise I'll get you something cool, okay?" he ruffled Will's hair, who smiled a little in return.

He didn't even remember that he would be turning thirteen in two weeks. It was the beginning of November already. He was the youngest of his friend group, Dustin being the second while being born in late September. They had celebrated Mike's birthday in March, and Lucas' in January - him being the oldest and really proud of it. 

"Um, no it's not", he started. "But I will hold on to that promise", he smiled at his big brother. Then he turned to his mother. "I want to tell them."

Joyce knew immediately what it was, that was bothering her son. She took his hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. "It's okay."

"I know."

 

It took a lot of time and even more tears. Jonathan didn't want to leave the town to go study somewhere better, anymore. 

"This is why I didn't want to tell you!", Will cried, tears running down his cheeks.

Jonathan rushed next to him, gently grabbing his shoulders. "I want to be here, to take care of you..."

Will sobbed while standing still, eyes cast to the side. " _I don't want to be a hindrance_ ", he said in a quiet voice, between his hitched breathing.

"No, Will, you're not a hindrance", his brother told him, but it didn't help. Jonathan looked for help in the adults.

"It's your choice whether you go or not", Joyce said slowly, taking a deep calming breath, "but he'll be alright with us, just as much as with you here."

"What if something happens again--."

"You can't plan your whole life on 'if's', Jonathan", Joyce told her son.

"But if--."

"Then I am here and your mother is here, too, to take care of him." This time it was Jim, who interrupted him.

Will freed himself from Jonathan's hold, gently pushing the hands on his shoulders down. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." And with that, he walked away. 

"Goodnight, honey!", Joyce called after him. Jim murmured 'goodnight' after the boy, too, while his eyes remained on the defeated teenager in front of him.

Few seconds later they heard a door close, not with a bang, but loud enough for the noise to reach the living room.

"Jonathan--", Joyce started, but the teen was already making his way out of the room, down the hallway. She sat down with a sigh on the couch.

"I'm glad he told you immediately", Jim spoke up after a few minutes, breaking the silence.

"You're not mad at me?", she whispered.

"Why would I be?"

"I didn't tell you sooner."

Jim scoffed. "You don't need to tell me everything, Joyce. It took me some time to tell you about the box. About the things in my past, too... It's okay."

Joyce turned on the couch, lifting her legs on it, to face Jim. "But... I feel like I should've told you."

"What matters is that he's alive and alright", he murmured, taking her hands in his larger ones. He brushed them softly with his thumbs. "We need to get him checked, Joyce."

Tears rolled from her eyes and she sniffed. "But where?" He has those... _those things_ , growing inside of him", she whispered in shock. 

It was the same shock that she had kept locked inside of her, ever since she knew. Shock that she hadn't let out until that moment, not for anyone else to see.

"The Hawkins lab", Jim bit out, and they both knew he didn't want to say it. "They know what this is... And they owe you for lying about his death."

Joyce sobbed and he pulled her to his side. She rested her head on his shoulder, sniffling and shaking with tears. 

"Hey, he's going to be fine", Jim hushed her. "I'll call them, first thing tomorrow", he promised and she nodded against him.

"I'm not worthy of you", Joyce sniffed, letting out a small laugh. "You buffoon."

"Simple 'thank you' would've been enough."

 

It took long for Will to fall asleep. It was the same for the rest of the boys, too.

Dustin sat on his bed, looking out of the window and at the quiet street. He had arranged every compass he had found from his house on his windowsill. They still pointed to the true North. 

Lucas sat at his desk, going through some books from the library with the help of a flashlight. He tried to find more about what Mr Clarke had told them, about the rope, the energy, everything.

And Mike sat on his bed, the supercom in his hands. He waited and waited, like every night, but she didn't try to contact him this time either.


	4. I'm alright, don't nobody worry 'bout me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I decided to give you two chappies at the same time. And thank you who have commented already!  
> \- preciousbean

**I'm alright, don't nobody worry 'bout me**

 

For breakfast, Jonathan had made waffles with chocolate chips, which were Will's favorites. The boys sat at the kitchen counter, while Joyce stood on the other side of it, watching them with a small smile playing on her lips.

Jim ended his long phone call, coming to the kitchen and gaining her attention.

"Will, you're not going to school today", he told the boy, glancing at Joyce.

"Why?", Will asked, putting down his fork.

"We're going to the laboratory", Joyce explained to him. "To get you checked up."

Will looked unsure. "Can they do anything?"

"They will do everything they can", Jim promised, his voice strong and serious. 

After a long silence, Will nodded slowly. "When are we leaving?"

"We have the appointment at nine", Jim patted the boy's shoulder. "In half an hour."

"I'll call the school, go get ready", Joyce gave her son an encouraging smile.

"Can they really help him?", Jonathan asked, once Will had closed his bedroom door behind him, and Joyce had left the room to make the phone call in the living room.

"They'll do anything they can, to prevent the same mess from happening again", Jim answered.

 

The security was even more precise than before. Once they got into the lobby, they were immediately taken into an elevator and to the sixth floor. There they walked through endless, white hallways and were led into what looked like a normal, but fancier, doctor's room to Will. 

He was told to sit on the table in the middle of the room, while Joyce and Jim were offered chairs. 

Neither wanted to sit down.

When the woman, who had been guiding them, left the room, a tall man with white hair came in. 

The right side of his face was completely destroyed. It looked healed, as in normal colored, but the new skin there left him looking deformed. 

Will tried not to stare, but it was hard. 

Jim would always recognize him, no matter how long it would be from the last time or how much damage the man's face would've gone through. 

And so would Joyce. She would've preferred that the man would've died, gotten eaten by the monster a year ago.

"Good morning", the man greeted her. "I'm Dr. Martin Brenner."

"I know who you are. But I'm Joyce Byers, if you don't remember me." 

Brenner turned to Jim and his polite voice turned to a more of a forced one. "Nice to see you again, Mr Hopper."

"'Nice' wouldn't be the word I'd use in this situation", Jim shot back, taking a step closer to Will.

Brenner calmly turned his attention to the boy, who sat on the examination table. "Will Byers, I assume?" 

Will simply nodded, trying to focus on the good eye on the man's face. It had to be the monster, that had made the scar, he was sure of it. The thought alone sent a shiver along his spine.

"Let's just get this over with", Jim suggested. 

Brenner turned his calculating gaze on him for a few seconds, before he turned back to Will.

"If you would take off your shirt, and lie on your back." Will complied, his hands shaking a little because of his nervousness. "I will begin by pressing your stomach, and you will tell me if it hurts, or it feels uncomfortable."

And the man started from below the chest and mapped his way down, pressing the stomach with his fingers. When he got to the navel, Will hissed.

"Here?", Brenner asked, pressing the area a couple times more.

"Yeah", Will gasped.

"Does it hurt?"

"A-a little bit", he admitted. "Mostly feels uncomfortable."

"I will need to scan him", Brenner told to Joyce, who nodded fast, a hand covering her mouth.

"What can you do after that?", Jim demanded to know.

"He'll need surgery."

"Who's going to operate him?"

"Not me, I assure you. I have surgeons better than in regular hospitals, you don't need to worry about that."

"Can it be done today?" Will's soft voice got their focus, and the adults turned back to him. 

"After we get a look at the scan, and we know more of your...situation, then yes."

Will had his eyes at ceiling, suddenly afraid to look down and see something moving under his skin. "Good. The sooner the better", he whispered.

Joyce stroked his hair, her whispered words filling the room. "It's going to be okay."

 

After the scan, they waited. 

The woman from earlier brought them some refreshments, and left soon after that. Will sat with Joyce on the examination table, leaning his head on her shoulder. Jim walked in circles, not patient enough to sit down.

It made Will even more nervous.

After a long time, Brenner walked in with an envelope. He opened it and put the insides on the screen, waiting for everyone in the room to come to him. 

Will was the first to move. 

He jumped off the table and made his way to the screen. And he didn't like what he saw. 

He had read about human biology at school, he knew what the intestines were supposed to look like - and his own apparently didn't look like that. 

His stomach was one large, dark lump. The dark spots made their way up, all the way, almost to his throat. 

Will felt like throwing up at the sight, but he couldn't look away, either. It was sickening and in every possible way unnatural. Suddenly, it was all too real.

"As you can see", Dr Brenner cleared his throat, "the eggs are hatching in the stomach. Once they are ready, they make their way up, which you already know." 

Jim put his hand on the boy's shoulder and pulled Will to lean against him, draping one arm over his chest. The boy leaned back, trying to stay calm. It wasn't the right time to panic.

"Can you operate him immediately?", Joyce got out, staring at the scan. 

Dr Brenner nodded. "Dr Stone is preparing the room already. I just need you to sign some papers first."

"What papers?", Jim growled.

"Some legal documents", Dr Brenner told him calmly.

Jim shook his head. "You can't fool us, trick us into anything. You will help him, because that's what you owe us. The only thing Joyce will sign is a paper, that states that you are responsible if something goes wrong, not the other way around."

Joyce stared at him, he felt it, but Jim kept his eyes on the man in front of him. 

Martin Brenner was a man, who always got his way around people, he was sure of it. He had a way with words, like people in his position usually did. But not with him, not with someone who knew what he was truly capable of.

But, after Jim had already mentally prepared himself into carrying Joyce and Will out of the building, Brenner simply nodded. 

"So be it." 

 

Before the anesthesia took him out, Will laid down once again, only now in a different room. 

Joyce and Jim were both there, wearing the masks, glows and all, trying to assure him that everything would be alright. And they scared him more than the room itself, more than the strange people who were going to cut him open. 

If he didn't make it, what would his mother do that time? Would Jim think that he had saved him for nothing? That, after all their effort, Will needed to be saved again and this time no one could help him?

"You're going to be okay, kid", Jim told him, almost like he had heard his thoughts. 

Will turned his gaze to him, blinking slowly. "Yeah?"

"Of course", the man promised.

Will decided to stop fighting back, and to close his eyes.

 

It felt just like a blink of an eye. When he had closed his eyes, he had been ready for surgery, his mother and Jim next to him. Now, when he opened them, he was in the upside down, in a large and empty room covered in slimy vines and garbage. A large bug crawled over his feet and he whisked it away.

Will sat on the dirty operation bed for a few seconds, just listening. It was quiet. Just like he remembered. 

He wasn't sure if it was something in the air, that was making it hard to breath. But he ripped the hem of his hospital gown, wrapping it around his head and covering his mouth and nose. He remembered the suits his mother and Jim had wore while saving him. This would have to be enough. 

Getting up from the table, Will praised himself with what he was about to do. He hoped that he had enough time.

 

After a long walk, he got out of the building. It wasn't light like normally during the day, but not dark like during the night either. He didn't hear the wind, nor the birds - nothing. But he didn't hear the monster either. He didn't hear the growls, the rustles of the ground under its feet or any cracking of sticks. Nothing. 

Will wasn't sure how much time he exactly had on his hands. Or if his mother and Jim would get mad at him, if they found out about his doings. But he had to take the chance, when it was offered to him. So he sped up, walking out of the Hawkins Laboratory's main gate. 

His bare feet didn't make a sound, but the air and the ground felt cold on them. He was glad that Mike had left clothing for Eleven. If there was a change she got them, at least she wouldn't freeze.

He tried to think about where he should go, where she could be. From what he had gathered from Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, from their last day with Eleven, not at their school at least. So, he crossed that of his mental list of places. 

Will went to his home first. It was the closest. And that's where she had been the last time. Well, if it really had been Eleven. 

It took him over fifteen minutes, the shortest way by foot.

 

He opened the door to a twisted copy of his home, slowly, looking around the living room cautiously.

"Eleven?", he called into the dim room. 

It was quiet. 

"It's me, Will", he tried again, closing the door behind him. "Are you here?"

He tiptoed into the doorway that led to the kitchen, peeking from there to the hallway. He listened to the silence. His breathing sounded loud. The house was too quiet for him to feel comfortable and safe. 

"El?", he asked.

Then the door to his room opened, at the end of the hallway, creaking a little.

"Is it you, Eleven?", he asked, taking a few steps forward, pulling the piece of fabric off his face. 

Not any monster would be calm and collected enough to open a door. That was the only thought that assured him, at the moment.

Then the person in his room walked into the hallway. She was clearly a girl, he could tell. Her hair was a mess, her clothes dirty and shredded. And she looked..thin. Too thin. But he was sure it was the girl he and his friends had been looking for. Will recognized the clothes Mike had left for her.

"Will", the girl said, looking at him with wide eyes.

He felt a little smile tug his lips. "El, right?", he asked, taking a few steps forward.

"Yes", the girl smiled for a second, before she noticed his hospital gown. "The bad men..", she whispered, eyes opening even wider.

"No, Eleven", Will begun. The boys had told him about the 'bad men'. His mother and Jim had, too. "It's okay. They're..helping me."

"Helping?", Eleven asked, coming to stand in front of him. Her voice was raspy, and lips so dry and chapped that even he noticed.

"They are operating--, cutting me open, to get the slugs out", he tried to explain to her, but she simply stared back. "I have something inside of me", he pointed at his stomach, "from the upside down. They, the bad men, are getting them out."

"You should not be here, Will", she told him, eyebrows furrowing.

"I can't help it", he said, his voice soft. "But is this place safe? Are you safe?"

Eleven nodded. "It's scared to come here."

"W-what is?", Will gulped.

"The monster", Eleven told him, fiddling with the hem of her sweater. It was big for her, while it had been small for Mike.

"It's alive?", he whispered.

"Never died." She looked at him with her large, brown eyes.

"Neither did you, Eleven."

"El", she told him.

"El", he corrected. "Everyone's waiting for you, El."

"I can't."

"Y-you're stuck in here?", Will asked, to which she nodded. "Chief Hopper has been leaving you food, you've got them, right?" She nodded again. "Good, and you got Mike's clothes, too."

She looked down, at her clothes, then sniffed at the collar. "Mike?"

"Yeah", he smiled. "He's still waiting for you to come back, so are Dustin and Lucas. And me, El. I-I gave you my supercom, so you could contact us. Well, Mike. He'd love to hear from you", he told her.

Eleven wrapped her hands around herself, looking like she was ready to cry. "No."

"Why?", he asked. "We can find a way out for you." He couldn't let her stay there. "It's not safe here, with the monster."

"Me", she said then, lifting a hand to point at herself. "I am the monster, Will."

He was about to deny it, to tell her she was wrong, that the monster he had seen was nothing like her, but his vision started to blur. 

"Stay here, El!", Will told her. "I'll come back, okay?"

The last thing he saw was her, nodding to him. "I'll stay", she whispered.

 

Joyce and Jim were send to wait into the next room, which was connected to the operation room with a window. So, there they sat, right behind it. Jim pulled Joyce to his side, as the surgery begun. 

 

It took a few hours. The surgeon didn't hurry, he did the whole thing with steady hands and coordinated movements. Will's heart rate didn't drop or sped up significantly. And Dr Brenner stood by Will's side through the whole operation and watched, with what Jim interpreted was interest, at what had nestled itself inside the small boy. 

Joyce cried out in shock, when the first black lump was removed from inside of her son. And then more, one after another. The surgeon put them all into a steel bucket next to him, and at the end Jim wasn't sure how full it was. He was glad they couldn't see it.

Next to him, Joyce had stopped crying a while ago, still looking horrified. It was her son, her little boy that had had to go through so many horrible things already. Jim knew how she felt. There was nothing worse than that feeling, of not being able to help your own child.

After a long wait, Brenner left the room and the doctor operating begun to sew shut the cut he had made. Soon, the door opened to the room they sat in, and they stood up when Brenner joined them.

"It's done", the man informed the pair. 

"You got all out?", Joyce whispered. Jim hugged her closer to him.

"His stomach has been completely cleared from them, yes. But the last ones between his stomach and gullet will come out the same way as before. I suggest you come back in a couple weeks, to confirm that every last one has come out." 

"Of course", Joyce let out a breath, which she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"Until then, he'll have to stay at home, recovering from the operation", Brenner continued, turning to look at the boy in the next room, exposing the shredded side of his face to them. "I suppose you would rather have him there, than in here during that time, am I right?"

"When is he ready to be taken home?" Jim asked right away.

Brenner smiled to them both, lopsidedly. It send shivers up Joyce's spine. 

"In the evening. When he has waken from the anesthesia, and is feeling well", the man told them. "But for now, I would like to talk to you, Mr Hopper. Could you perhaps step outside with me for a moment, and--."

"Anything you want to talk to me about, can be done in here." Jim wouldn't leave Joyce alone. He couldn't.

Brenner looked at the pair, calculating the situation, before nodding. "Very well. Have you considered our offer for you?" He smiled when Jim's jawline tightened, and Joyce turned to look at the man beside her.

"I don't accept what you do here, in the secrecy of a hidden laboratory", Jim growled. "Creating human weapons out of innocent children, spying on--."

"They have a purpose in this war we are having, and you know that very well, Mr Hopper", Brenner interrupted him.

"You can't just take someone's child, take away their chance for a normal life, and except that everyone's alright with it!", Jim got out. "When I find Eleven, we are going to reveal this twisted weapon factory you have going on."

"So you know that Eleven is alive, I assume?", Brenner asked calmly. Jim swallowed, and next to him Joyce tensed up. "Then you must also know that there is no gate, no way for her to return. We destroyed the gate, as a safety precaution."

_No._

"Besides, if you find number Eleven and tried to, as you put it, reveal what we have here, no one would believe you. There are quite a large number of authorities behind us. We have a safe net, to keep us safe from the daylight, because of people like you." Brenner smiled slightly, with the other side of his face. "Because of people, who don't know their boundaries."

" _Number_ Eleven?", Joyce asked, in shock.

Brenner lifted an eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry, but where did you think her name came from?"

"Oh, I know where it came from", she told him. "But there is no reason for you to talk about her like that, like she's not a person. Because she is. Despite you polluting on her, not letting her have the childhood she deserved, she has a mind of her own. She's brave, compassionate and loving. Not like you", Joyce hissed at Brenner. 

"And that's why number Eleven is a lost cause", the man told her. "They are not supposed to meet outside forces, like she did."

"She's a child!", Joyce got out, shocked. "She didn't even get to choose whether she wanted to be a part of this or not!"

Before Joyce could say anything else, Jim spoke up. "There is _no gate_?", he asked slowly. He couldn't believe it. "When was the last time you heard from her? Saw her?"

"We can channel her, sometimes, but she knows how to keep us away."

Joyce turned to look away, shaking her head, trying to stop herself from crying.

"There is no way?", Jim asked. "No way for her to get back?". He didn't want to believe it.

Brenner stared at him. "Not that we know. We are actually shutting the laboratory here, in Hawkins."

"Are you coming back for her? If we find her?", Jim asked.

"Number Eleven is more of a hindrance for us, than of use. If you find her, you can keep her", Brenner told them seriously. "Eleven is deemed dangerous, and not many would want to work with her anymore. She is growing stronger all the time, sometimes testing her boundaries when we get too close to her."

"What do you mean?" Jim furrowed his eyebrows.

"That I will run out of soldiers, workers, everything, if I continue looking for her."

"So you gave up on her?", Joyce asked, bewildered.

"What use does a toaster have, Mrs Byers, if it doesn't toast your bread but shocks you to death?", Brenner asked slowly, his voice calm. "None, I assure you. Number Eleven is just another failed try."

Joyce tried to surge forward, put Jim pulled her back to his side. "I will accept your offer."

She turned to him, surprised. As did Brenner. "On what condition?"

"When we find Eleven, she stays with us. For good."

"Fair enough", Brenner nodded. "But remember, we are not responsible anymore for what she may do. She is dangerous, despite being a child in your eyes."

"Do we have a deal?", Jim asked, impatient.

 

When Will woke up, he had his mother next to him. Joyce was sitting in a chair, biting her fingernails, her hair tousled up. 

"Mom?", Will rasped. He turned his head to the side, to face her. She immediately scooted closer with her chair and took a hold of his hand.

"Honey", she gasped. "How are you feeling? Do you feel sick?"

"I'm fine, mom", he said, then coughed. "Can I have some water?"

"Oh, of course", Joyce poured him a glass, then helped him up, careful to not hurt the wound. "Here you go", she whispered, aiding him a little.

Will drank the whole thing and slowly laid back down. "What time is it?"

"Five", Joyce answered, glancing at the clock on her wrist. "In the afternoon", she added, after seeing Will's confused expression. "Everything went well", she started. "There were a few they couldn't get to, but they will come out.."

"The same way than before?", Will confirmed and Joyce looked sad. "It's okay, this is still better than before", he told his mother, smiling tiredly. "When do I get to go home?"

"They'll drive us back tonight. And a doctor will come to check on you every day", she informed, stroking his hair. Tears suddenly filled her eyes. "I'm so sorry, honey.."

"For what?", Will asked, his voice soft.

"For not doing this sooner. I'm such a lousy mother, I'm so sorry", she cried.

"No, mom, it's okay", he tried to tell her. "I'm okay."

"But you weren't", Joyce sniffed. "You weren't okay. You still fully aren't, not before--...oh god. That was something, Will", she tried to smile, but failed badly with her crying. "I'm just glad you are here, honey."

"Me too", Will assured her. Then he looked around the large room. "Where's Jim?"

"He went to tell Jonathan the news, and to feed Chewy", Joyce smiled. 

Then Will realized, that he hadn't told his friends about the visit to the lab. He hadn't showed up for school and had probably worried them. And the last thing they needed was a replay of what had happened in spring, with Mike.

"Mom.. I need to call my friends", he said slowly, already afraid of what they would say.

"I already did, after I was sure that they, or at least one of them was home from school", she stroked his hair.

Will sighed, relaxing back. "Thanks."

His stomach rumbled then, from the emptiness. It was the first time in months, and his eyes widened from the realization. But his mother laughed a little, making him feel a little better.

"I saved this for you", she said, offering him a jello cup. "You can't eat much yet, but this, I think, should be fine..."

And never had a jello tasted that good.


	5. I come from a land down under

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. How soon do you want the next chapter? I mean... it's ready :)  
> (Is this how I'm getting you guys to comment?) xx - preciousbean

**I come from a land down under**

They waited, Will got checked again, and then they got a ride home. It was just a wound and it would need time and patience to heal. And the doctor would visit them every day, to check up on him and to clean the wound. Everything would work out just fine.

And Will was glad to get home. Jonathan and Jim waited him there, and Chewy happily wagged his tail immediately when he saw the boy. Jim carried him from the car to the couch, after Will had repeated a couple of times that he wasn't tired enough yet, and didn't want to go to bed so soon. 

He was sure that if he had his supercom, his friends would try to contact him. But they knew that he didn't, so they just had to wait for the next day, when they would be allowed to come over after school. He laid on the couch, Chewy sitting next to him on the floor and begging for petting. 

That day was the beginning of him getting better, he knew it. 

It was also the first night that Will wasn't actually scared of falling asleep. Even if he'd wake up in the upside down, he knew he would be safe and Eleven would be there. So, when his eyelids started dropping, he didn't try to stop it. He had his family around him. He was safe. 

Everything was fine.

 

"Will?", someone poked his shoulder. "Will?", the soft voice was panicked, and he opened his eyes. 

"Yeah?", he asked sleepily, tilting his head towards the sound. 

"Oh god, honey", Joyce let out a nervous laugh. "Don't scare me like that."

"Like what?", Will mumbled, closing his eyes again.

His mother nudged him a bit. "Hey, if you want to sleep, let someone carry you into bed."

"Mmh." He didn't really want to move, just to continue sleeping. "Fine..."

"Come on buddy", he heard Jim's voice, before he was picked up from the couch.

 

After Jim carried Will to his bed, Joyce helped the sleepy boy into his pajamas. Chewy jumped to the foot of the bed immediately, curling there to rest. Once done, the adults left the room, leaving the door open.

"That's one loyal dog you've got there", Jim whispered, as they made their way back to the living room. 

"He loves Will", Joyce smiled. "When he went missing, that dog would cry in his room in the middle of the night, or disappear for hours. Now he wouldn't even let the poor boy go to school without him."

"I had a cat as a kid", Jim scratched his head in thought, as he sat on the couch. "That bastard would wait in the dark halls, when I had to go to the bathroom at night, and attack my ankles."

Joyce laughed. "I'm sure you had some good times with it, too." She sat down next to him, lifting her legs on the seat under her.

"Not likely", Jim chuckled. "He didn't like anyone, except for my mother." His voice turned gentle at the end. His mother was one of his soft spots.

"How is she?", Joyce asked softly. 

"I think I should go see her, soon", Jim murmured. Then he rubbed his face. "Feels like I don't have enough time in the world, to see everyone, to be with everyone I'd like to."

"You took time off for the rest of the week, right?", Joyce rubbed his arm. "You should go this weekend."

"Yeah", Jim nodded. "You'll be okay?" He grabbed her hand in his.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?", Joyce laughed a bit, then smiled. "We'll be fine."

"If I leave in the morning on Saturday, I'll be back in the evening", Jim stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"And we will still be here", Joyce told him. "We're not running away, Jim."

"I know", the man muttered. 

They sat there in silence, the only sound they heard coming from the shower.

"Jonathan has been wasting water lately", Joyce pointed out. 

"He likes someone", Jim suggested and she shrugged.

"Perhaps."

"You'll have to give him the talk", Jim said, nudging her softly.

Joyce laughed. "He'll bang the door to my face."

"Can't you just, I don't know, throw some condoms at him?"

She swatted him, laughing even harder. "Oh god, I'll seriously have to talk to him."

"Was my idea that bad?", Jim asked, playing hurt.

"You can do that if you'd like? I'm sure he would appreciate the effort."

"No, seriously, I'll do it, whenever he least expects it."

"He won't talk to you after that, but sure, if you'd like to take the risk.."

They continued the chat, the teasing for a long time. 

Jonathan got out of the shower, had a snack and went to bed. 

 

The two made themselves sandwiches and tea, and Jim set a fire in the fireplace, warming up the living room. Joyce went to cover Will with an extra blanket, afraid that he'd get cold. She caressed his hair for a while, before making her way back to the couch, into Jim's arms.

They sat there, curled together under the same quilt.

"You don't have to tell me about the deal you made, if you don't want to", Joyce suddenly said, turning to face him fully. "But you can tell me. About anything."

Jim looked down at her, at the woman curled up in his arms. He stroked her cheek and sighed. "I want to tell you."

Joyce gave his hand, the one on her face, a small kiss. Encouraging one. "I'm here."

The man sighed. "When we brought Will back... I got taken to the lab", he murmured. "Brenner tried to pay me to stay silent."

She looked at him, brows furrowed. "But didn't he just say, that you couldn't do anything?"

" _I think_ , that they see me as a threat because of what I actually know. Maybe they think I know more than I do. He just doesn't want to give me the upper hand."

"But now you agreed to it? To his way?", she asked, eyes filled with worry. "He didn't demand anything more from you?"

Jim shook his head. "Just for me not to go forward with my knowledge. He's actually right, I couldn't do anything with it. They wipe out every piece of evidence as fast as anything comes up", he sighed. "I'd just come out as another lunatic." 

Before Joyce had mustered the courage to ask, Jim continued. "They offered me money."

"What?", she asked. 

"And now, if-, when we find Eleven, we don't have to send her away. Or fear for her to be taken. Nothing like that", he murmured. "It's been a long time, since I took care of a child on my own, but I can do it."

Joyce smiled at him fondly. "I guess you mean, that we can do it?", she corrected him.

And Jim closed the distance between them, placing a soft kiss on her lips. And then another, longer one. 

"You know I love you, right?", he whispered to her, after Joyce had pulled away for a bit. Then fear crossed his features, only for a few seconds but long enough for her to see.

He hoped he hadn't messed up what they had.

But she looked at him, smiling so brightly that Jim wanted nothing more than to stay there, for the rest of his life.

"Oh, I know", Joyce teased him. "And I love you, too", she continued, before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to a long, loving kiss.

 

Mike was worried for Will. He had gone to the surgery so suddenly after their conversation, was he really as fine as his mother had told them?

He glanced at the clock, then at the supercom on his bedside table. 

He had spoke with Lucas until eleven, an hour past their bed time, until his friend had gotten caught by his mother. Lucas, too, was worrying over Will. Actually, even more than he was. But to be honest, that was who Lucas was. When Will had gone missing, it had been Lucas who had focused on simply finding him. 

But they would go to Will's home after school on the next day. Well, probably almost everyday for the next few weeks. He glanced at the clock again. 11:52PM. He turned his back to the clock, facing the wall. 

Just as he was about to fall asleep, his supercom rattled on the bedside table. Mike turned around sleepily, waiting for the person to speak. It would be Lucas, or Dustin if he was up because of the same thoughts. But he grew too tired to keep his eyes open, so he closed them, waiting. 

He waited for nothing, apparently, as no one ever spoke up. 

 

_They were playing in his basement, something a lot like Dungeons and Dragons. He was the game master as usual, everyone were laughing and he felt content. It was all good. Then he got a feeling, like someone was calling him, and he looked around but saw nothing but his friends sitting around the table._

_"Mike", a voice said. And although it had been long that he had heard her, or even remembered her voice, the soft sound found it's way to his heart._

_"Eleven?", he asked, getting up from the table and looking around._

_"She's not here."_

_"She's gone."_

_"She doesn't want to come back."_

_The harsh words from his friends filled the room. He couldn't recognize who said what, but it all hurt the same._

_"No, no", he tried to tell them. "She'll come back, I need her to come back, please, help me..", he begged them, but they wouldn't listen to him._

_"Do you really think she would come back? After how you treated her. Right."_

_"She's glad to be gone. She saved us, over and over again, but you? You still treated her like a dog."_

_"No, I didn't, I swear--."_

_"She'll never come back, not for you."_

When Mike woke up, he breathed out raggedly, looking around his room. Then he ran downstairs and into the basement, quickly switching the light on. He checked the blanket fort, before he went to stand in the middle of the room, looking around.

"El?", he whispered first, before saying it again, a little louder. "El? Are you here?"

He listened to the silence, tears welling in his eyes.

"Please, if you're here, just...say something, El, please", he sobbed, slumping down to the cold floor, on his knees. "I need you to come back", he choked out. His chest felt tight. "Please..."

 

Mike had trouble staying awake through the whole day at school. Lucas doodled his way through it. And Dustin kept poking the both, to answer questions, to wake up, to change class or to go to lunch.

"Okay, what's up? With both of you?" Dustin questioned, as they sat down with their lunches. "I get that Will's not here, but he's fine. We'll see him in three hours. Stop brooding around."

Mike sighed. "I know. It's just.. Things will never be the same they were before, right?"

"Of course not", Dustin looked at him weirdly. "You can't keep living the same second or minute for the rest of your life. Besides, that would be boring."

"You know what I mean", Mike murmured, before nibbling his sandwich.

"Yeah", Lucas sighed. "Will's at home, again, but he's getting better. He'll heal before his birthday?", he asked the other two then, who shrugged.

"We can always have a movie marathon. Then he wouldn't have to move around too much", Dustin suggested. "Like, any movies he wants to watch, right?"

"Sounds good", Mike admitted, smiling a bit already. Then, someone bonked him on the head with an elbow, and he turned around in his seat to face Troy.

"Oh, sorry Wheeler, didn't see you there", the boy smirked down at him. "But I can see, that you still don't have that freak girl here, defending you. Missing her?" Then he continued his way to his friends, sitting down and laughing loudly with them.

Mike squeezed his hands into tight fists, before he turned back to his friends.

It had been hell, ever since Troy had understood that she wasn't there. Mike had been in several fights, with Lucas usually on his side. Dustin and Will had been pulled into them a few times, too, getting more hits to themselves than to their bullies combined.

"I miss her", Dustin said, eyebrows furrowed. "And there's nothing wrong with that."

Lucas nodded, mouth still full of bread that he had been afraid to chew, when Troy had showed up.

And it wasn't like they missed her, because of the bullying. Yes, her being there would keep Troy and his friends further away, but it wasn't that. 

It was like their table, with four seats around it, felt too large for them.

"I know", Mike said, casting his eyes on his lunch. "I miss her, too."

 

In math, the new girl Max threw a paper airplane at Dustin, who tried to throw it back before the teacher even saw him with it. Long story short, Dustin got extra homework, which he didn't mind because math was one of his strong points. Getting detention would've been another thing.

The girl had taken a liking into bullying the boys, too, after she had made friends with Troy and his gang. Mike hated it. One more people to make their time at school even more of a hell than it already was. 

When the bell finally rang, he, Dustin and Lucas sprinted to their bikes and made their way to Will's house.

 

They had settled themselves into their friends living room, Will lying on the couch, legs on Lucas' lap, Dustin sitting on the coffee table and Mike in an armchair. Jim brought them snacks and then retired to Joyce's room with a book. After the boys heard the door close, they fell into a hushed conversation about the chief and Will's mother.

"Mom had to go to work today, and Jim had already taken off the rest of the week", Will shrugged. "Besides, he's already here all the time, this isn't any different."

"He is?", Dustin asked. "What if they hook up, him and your mom? You couldn't do anything fun after that", his face fell.

"You can have fun without breaking the law", Will informed his friend.

"That's Will to you, Dustin", Lucas laughed. "He doesn't even need a chief as his parent."

"You probably should've one, though", Mike said, looking weirdly at Dustin. 

"You know what I mean", Dustin defended himself. "But are they really, like, together?"

"I guess", his friend answered slowly. "I don't know."

"Have they kissed?"

"I don't know", Will's face scrunched up. "That's not my thing to worry about." Then he coughed, and Dustin lifted the bucket from the floor for him. "Don't need that..yet."

"Can I see it, before you burn it?"

"I promised, didn't I", Will laughed at his friend. "It's gross."

"Like I didn't know that", Dustin grinned.

"You sure you're okay? Having us here?", Lucas asked, glancing at his friend.

"Yeah, we can go if you need to rest", Mike offered, but Will shook his head.

"No, don't", he said, before coughing again. Dustin was once again ready with the bucket. Will pushed it back down. "I saw Eleven."

Dustin dropped the bucket, it clanging onto the floor. "What?"

"You did?", Lucas asked, eyebrows high on his forehead.

And suddenly, all Mike could think about was his dream from the night before. And the couple of hours he had spend, sitting on the cold basement floor and calling for her. He tried to push the sadness and guilt to the back of his mind, but didn't fully succeed. 

"During the surgery, I was there for a while. I had strong anesthetics", Will explained. "I decided to go and check my ho-...house. And she was there."

"Is she okay?", Mike asked in a tight voice, looking at his hands. They were sweaty and shaking.

"She is. She has gotten the food, the clothes, and the supercom, all of it. I don't know how. I've actually been thinking about it the whole day", Will told them, pointing to a sketch book on the table, next to Dustin, who offered it to him. 

"You know like the holes in time, that make travelling in time possible?" Will flipped through some of the pages, before stopping to a single one. All the boys came closer, looking at the drawing. "I think Jim somehow sensed one, between our world and the upside down, and decided to put the box right there."

He had drawn them: him, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Jim on the other side of the page. In the middle of the picture, stood a wooden box. After the box, the picture turned upside down. It was Eleven.

She stood alone in the darkness, and it broke Mike's heart a bit more every second that he kept looking at it.

"Wow", Dustin whispered. 

"You did this today?" Lucas asked in awe.

"Well, yeah." Will blushed because of the attention. "Had nothing else to do", he mumbled.

"But, how can we get her back?", Dustin asked, eyeing the girl in the drawing.

Will looked sadly at them. "I don't know. Maybe through the time hole or what ever it is, by the box?"

"We'll just need to find the gate, right?", Mike asked, looking at his friends. "We can do that."

Dustin and Lucas nodded, both getting excited over the progress.

"There is no gate", Will sighed. "It seems that she's stuck in there. But we can figure something out... Or at least I think we can."

"There's no gate?" Dustin asked, bewildered. 

"Of course there's a way out. There should be", Mike begun to sound panicked. 

"Maybe she was the one to open the gate in the first place", Lucas voiced his thoughts. "Maybe..it was an accident then, and she doesn't know how to do it again?"

"That's not helpful", Mike whispered. Lucas shot him an apologetic look.

"We'll find a way", Dustin told him. "She's tough."

"Yeah", Mike smiled for a split second. "Wish I could go there", he mumbled after a moment. Then he looked at Will. "Is it because of how long you were there, that you get back?"

"Maybe", Will whispered.

"Oh!", Dustin clapped his hands together. "Maybe it's because of those things!", he exclaimed, pointing at Will.

"What do you mean?", Lucas asked, grabbing a hold of Will's feet that had started to squirm around.

"He holds something that the upside down sees as theirs, right?", Dustin reasoned, looking at each of his friends, stopping to Will. "Maybe it tries to get them back."

"Then it's late", Will noted. "There are only a few left, for me to throw up. They said at the lab, that it wouldn't take more than a few weeks for them to come out."

"Then you won't be going back anymore?", Lucas asked.

"I think so, yeah."

"But that's also how long we have time left to save her", Mike whispered. "Once we have no way there, and there's no gate to get back here, she's really stuck."

Understanding fell on the rest of the boys. 

"When do you think you'll see her, Will?", Lucas asked.

"The next time I get there."

"You sure?", Mike asked, sitting to the edge of his chair.

Will nodded. "She's staying at my house, because it's safe there." 

The boys noticed the way their friend fiddled with his sleeves. It was a nervous gesture he had.

"Safe as the Demogorgon's not dead", Dustin was the first to talk. It wasn't a question.

"She said, that it's scared of our house, and I think it's because of the traps that Jonathan and Nancy made for it here." 

They all had heard of the teens attempts to take down the monster. Mike still couldn't believe it was his sister, that had done all of those things.

"How can she get to the box, then? It's quite far from here", Lucas wondered, glancing at his friends with a frown.

"She can do that", Mike said. "You saw what she could do? She'd get tired, but she's strong."

Lucas and Dustin nodded, and Will smiled at his friends.

"We still have time", he said softly.

"Yeah", Mike nodded.

Will didn't have the heart to tell his friends, that right now, Eleven didn't even want to come back.


	6. Anything you want, you got it

**Anything you want, you got it**

On Friday, Will spend the whole day on the couch, mostly reading. He had hoped that he could've got to the upside down during sleep again, which was something he never would've thought to want. But no, another day less of their already short time of being able to save Eleven. And it hurt him, it hurt to let his friends down. 

They all depended on him, and he couldn't control anything of it. 

Lucas had given him a card two days ago, and Will pulled it out from where he had tucked it between his book's pages. His friend had drawn leaves on the front, colored with mostly orange but with yellow, red and with a hint of green on them, too. 

Orange was his favorite color, and he was surprised that Lucas knew it. Well, it could be just a coincidence, too. 

The card simply said "get well soon" on the inside, but it still was the best thing Will had gotten in a long time.

 

Jim sat at the dining room table the whole day, fiddling some papers around. He paused to make lunch for them in the noon. They ate together in the living room, because Will was still supposed to be lying down. 

Then the doctor visited. The wound was healing well, but the skin around the cut felt stretched. Every time the boy moved a little too fast, he felt the cut. Not because it hurt, but because the wound felt like it could open by the slightest movement.

 

When Joyce got home, Will had fallen asleep on the couch. She stroked his hair, and freed his hands from the book he had been reading, putting it on the coffee table. After that, she went into the dining room.

She greeted him with a kiss, and Jim had the biggest smile on his face. "Hey", he murmured.

"Hi", Joyce smiled. 

"I was just thinking, that we're grown adults, right?", Jim asked and she laughed, despite his serious tone.

"Yes, we are. What else were you thinking about?"

"That maybe, _just maybe_ , we could live under the same roof?", it was still a question. 

"Why is it 'just' a maybe?", Joyce asked, and Jim pulled her to his lap. "You practically live here anyway."

"And maybe, we could build a house with the money I got", he continued, now in a hushed voice. "And use the rest of it for the kids to go to college?" 

"You don't need to do anything of sort, Jim, you know that", Joyce stroked his arm. "Besides, do we need more room?", she asked, before her eyes widened. "A house? College funds? How much money did they give you?"

"Enough... But I want that", Jim said, trying to calm her down. "I want that with you."

"Are you sure?", Joyce whispered, after staring at him for a few, long seconds.

"Yeah", Jim chuckled, smirking at her, "pretty sure."

Joyce breathed out slowly, and a shy smile formed on her face. "What did you have in mind, then?", she asked softly. 

"Well, I was thinking", he begun, "of a small basement. It would have room for Will and his friends, and an extra room for Jonathan to build a dark room in. We'd have our bedroom, and the kids would of course have their own... And we could have an extra bedroom", he continued, stroking her back slowly. "For when Eleven comes back."

"I'd like that", Joyce admitted, kissing him softly. "The kitchen wouldn't need to be that big, because you're the only one who knows what to do in there. Except maybe for Jonathan", she added as an afterthought. "But we would need a large living room, and dining room, to fit everyone."

"That can be done", Jim murmured. "So.. Are we doing this?"

"Yeah", Joyce looked at him fondly. "We're building a house."

"You're not building anything", he chuckled.

"You didn't like my homemade vent in the living room?"

"Well, let's just say, that it was a little bit too effective."

"Shut it."

 

At dinner on the same night, which they ate in the living room again, the adults told Will and Jonathan about their plan. Jonathan got super excited over the idea of a dark room of his own. Will liked it all. 

"Just make sure that the new house won't be too far from everything", Will said to his mother and Jim, shyly pleading them. "It already takes long enough by bike from the other side of Hawkins to school."

"Actually", Jim started, looking at Joyce for her permission, who nodded. "We were thinking of building on my lot. That's actually closer to your friends, Will, and at the same time closer to school."

"There's a pond in the back yard", Joyce added, smiling at her sons.

"Yeah?", Will smiled then, even more excited. "Cool."

"You sure you can afford this?", Jonathan asked, eyeing both adults. 

"We know what we're getting ourselves into", Jim assured him.

Joyce smiled when Will leaned against her side, him too looking as excited as she felt. 

 

Will decided that he could make his way to bed by himself already, tired of being carried around.

He was careful while walking back to his room, careful while changing, and careful while brushing his teeth. Joyce followed him around, making sure to be close enough if he needed her, but far enough for him to feel that he was doing everything without help.

Once Will had settled into bed, Joyce sat on the edge, tucking him in. 

"You sure you're okay with this? The house and all?", she confirmed.

"Yeah", Will smiled. "It sounds fun."

"It does, doesn't it?", Joyce smiled, too.

"I want you to be happy, mom."

"I am, honey." She stroked his cheek, then his hair.

"Mom?"

"Mm?"

"Did you ask Dr Brenner about El?", Will asked in a soft voice.

"We talked about her, yes", she told him slowly, nodding.

"What did he say?"

"A lot of stuff", Joyce murmured. "I'm not sure if I should tell you everything."

Will bit his lip. "Is it true, that there is no gate?", he asked, and it took long for her to register his words.

"W-where did you hear that?", she asked in a hushed whisper, her eyebrows furrowed. "Did someone say so?"

She waited for him to answer, but Will kept quiet, eyes cast to his hands which he fiddled over the covers.

"You can tell me anything, sweetie. Did...did someone from the lab talk to you about it?"

"No", Will got out. "Eleven", he whispered, swallowing hard. "She's stuck in there."

Joyce stopped stroking his hair then, eyes wide. "That's what Brenner said. But how did you know that?"

"I spoke with her", Will admitted. "During the surgery."

"Y-You were in the upside down?", Joyce asked, and Will nodded. "Okay, and you saw Eleven, right?" He nodded again. "What did she say? Is she safe?"

"She's in our house", Will had a sad smile on his lips. "She's safe there, she's gotten the food, and the clothes Mike and I have left for her..."

Joyce let out a small laugh, a relieved one.

"...but she's stuck in there. And I don't think she wants to come back", Will felt tears in his eyes. "I don't know what to do anymore, mom. What if I can't go there anymore and she is left there, alone..."

"Shh", Joyce interrupted him, embracing him carefully. "It's okay, she'll come back, honey, I promise."

"I can't tell Mike, or Dustin, or Lucas", he cried. "They have been waiting for her. I don't want to give up."

"You don't have to give up", Joyce whispered. "We don't have to."

"But she doesn't want to come back", Will hiccuped. "How can I help her, if she doesn't want me to?"

They sat there for a while, both thinking over his words. Will's breathing calmed down and he wiped his face on his sleeve. Joyce kissed his forehead, pulling away to see his face.

"Could you, maybe take her a message from us?", Joyce asked him softly.

"Yeah, maybe", Will said in a small voice. "What kind of message?"

"I was thinking", she begun, "that if I write a letter, and you could give it to her. Would that be okay?"

Will's brows furrowed. "I'm not sure if I can take it to her, but I'll try."

"That's the only thing we can do now", his mother told him, stroking his hair. "We can try, as hard as we can."

 

In the Wheeler house, a certain supercom had been rattling for a while now. You couldn't make out the words of the noise, or if there were any. Suddenly, it got quiet. 

" _Mike?_ ", a voice questioned then. " _Mike?_ "

Nancy stormed into the room, grabbing the device. "How does this work, _fuck_ , Eleven?", she asked in panic, fiddling with the buttons. "Please, answer me?"

The rattle was back, and Nancy felt like throwing the thing against a wall. "Eleven?", she fiddled with the buttons again.

" _...Nancy?_ ", Eleven's voice was strong and clear, but uncertain.

Nancy laughed with relief. "Yeah, Eleven, it's me", she told her. 

" _Mike...where is he?_ "

"Oh, he's in the shower", Nancy answered, rushing to the bathroom door before she banged it. "Mike, open the door."

"What?", came from the other side of the door.

"Open the door, it's El!", she told him in a hurry. 

And he opened the door, pulling his shirt on quickly, hair still wet. Mike grabbed the supercom and ran back to his room, not wanting to wake up Holly - if they already hadn't.

"El?", he asked. "Are you there, El?"

" _Mike_ ", Eleven said, sounding relieved. Mike slumped down on his bed, Nancy sitting down next to him.

"Are you okay?", Mike asked quickly. He stared at the supercom in his hands, like it was a photo of the girl he so dearly missed. That, the device on his hand, was his only connection to her at the moment.

" _Yes_ ", the soft voice said, and after a few seconds, continued. " _Thank you, Mike._ "

"For what?", he asked, but a smile crept on his face. This was more than what he had thought he'd get. She was there, she was alive, and talking with him.

" _The clothes_ ", she said. " _I'm not cold._ "

"Good", he chuckled. Nancy patted his shoulder, before leaving her hand there as a silent support.

Then the line rattled, and Mike realised that she probably couldn't keep it up much longer.

"El, we will bring you back, you hear me?", he told her.

" _No_ ", Eleven said softly. " _You can't._ "

"I'm sorry", Mike hurried. "For the things I did, and said, and how I must have hurt you."

" _No_ ", she repeated. 

The hand on his shoulder gripped on, holding tighter.

"But you need to come back, El", Mike continued. "You promised." His eyes burned.

" _It's dangerous_ ", she said. " _I am._ "

"You're not!", he tried to tell her. "You promised to come back, to go to the snow ball with me..."

Then the line rattled again, and Mike let out a soft cry. 

" _Have to go_ ", he could barely hear Eleven's voice anymore.

"Wait for Will, El!", he told her. "We'll get you out of there, I promise!"

" _Can't keep it_ ", Eleven sounded like she was crying, too, which hurt Mike even more. " _The promise._ "

Then she was gone and the rattling returned. Mike waited for her, to say anything, while tears fell down his cheeks. Nancy sat by him for a while, comforting him the best she could, while her mind was filled with questions she didn't even dare to ask.

 

After Mike had curled under his covers, saying he wanted to be alone, Nancy returned to her room and collapsed to her bed. She thought about calling Jonathan.

Nancy's thoughts always went to Jonathan.

She looked at the scar on the palm of her hand, stroking it with a finger. 

She hadn't been stupid, no matter what anyone thought. 

 

_April, 1984_

_Nancy stroked the scar on her hand, as she watched the movie, cuddled against Steve._

_She didn't like him kissing her neck, it annoyed her. She couldn't concentrate on his words, they just didn't feel that important. She simply tried to watch the movie and ignore the unsettled feeling inside of her._

_In the beginning she had felt... in love, whenever she had looked at him. But not anymore._

_Now, she could only think about Jonathan._

_She hated herself for it. Why did she have to be like that? So... difficult. Hard to please._

_First, she had chosen Steve over Barb, and even the reminder of it hurt her like hell._

_Then, no matter how unexpected it had been, she had found safety and comfort in Jonathan. He hadn't swiped a carpet from under her feet with sweet love like Steve, but with care and protectiveness._

_And after that kiss she had placed on his cheek, on Christmas, she had felt like she had committed a sin. It had made her stomach knot, and as she had sat down next to her boyfriend, she hadn't been able to enjoy Steve's company like she usually did._

_Suddenly, she got up from the couch, startling the teen next to her._

_"I can't do this anymore", Nancy said, turning to look at Steve with a pained expression. "I just can't."_

_"You can't do what?", Steve asked, coming to her. "What's wrong?"_

_She stared at him for a few seconds, trying to come up with words that would make sense for him._

_This._

_Him being so sweet and understanding, while she hated him being like that. It was like they had packed a car and started driving, and all of her luggage had been on the roof without anything to bind them there. Her feelings had dropped off in the middle of the way, leaving her to feel frustrated and angry at him._

_And he hadn't done anything wrong._

_It was her that was wrong, unfair and difficult. She couldn't do it anymore._

 

In early Saturday morning, Will found himself in the upside down again. Eleven was already by his side, sitting down at the end of the bed, which Will was on. 

"You were here..", Eleven spoke up, then pointed at the open door to the hallway, "I saw you."

Will offered her a small smile, sitting upright. "I wasn't sure if I could come back anymore."

Eleven nodded, looking serious. "You took long."

"I know", Will frowned. "Sorry."

She kept looking at him. He noticed her red eyes and nose. She looked like she had been crying.

"Do you forgive me?", he asked, feeling bad.

"Forgive?", she repeated slowly.

"You're not mad at me?", Will wasn't sure how to say it. "For taking so long to come back?"

He could see it on her face, the understanding. "No", she told him. "I forgive."

Will smiled at her, and when he changed his position, to sit in a more comfortable way, he heard the rustle in his pajama pocket. His eyes widened. 

"It worked", he whispered, while pulling the letter out for Eleven to see.

She looked at the paper with interest. Will offered it to her and she took it. Gently, she opened the folds, and straightened the paper in her hands.

"What is this?", Eleven asked, looking between the boy and the paper.

"It's a letter, for you", Will explained. "From my mother."

"Your mother?", she asked. "Joyce?"

"Yeah", he chuckled. "You remember her?". 

She nodded. Of course she did.

"Mom wrote this to you. Can you read?", Will asked, looking at how Eleven stared at the words. She shook her head. "I can read it for you, if you'd like?", he offered shyly.

Eleven gave the letter back and Will started from the beginning, his soft voice filling the room:

_"Eleven,_

_I'm not sure if you remember me, but my name is Joyce. I'm Will's mother. I never had the chance to thank you, for what you did for my family. You not only saved my son, but his friends, too. You saved us all from a terrible ending. So thank you, Eleven, for everything you've done so far."_

Will glanced at Eleven at this point, who looked uncomfortable and stared at the floor, before he continued.

_"You're a special child and I want you to know that. You'll always have a place in our family and in our home, if you choose so. We are all waiting for you to come back home."_

Eleven sniffled next to him. "Really?", she whispered. Will nodded.

_"Me and Jim, who you probably remember as chief Hopper, we are going to build a house for our whole family. That includes you, too, sweetie. We'll have a room for you in there, just for you. We can slowly fill it with anything you like. We can fill the closet with pretty dresses, one's that you choose yourself."_

The girl next to Will let out a sob, making him glance at her again. He was close to tears, too. It was emotional and personal, but at the same time, he wanted to know these things, too. He was, for some reason, glad to be in the middle of it.

 _"And Will and Jonathan can be your brothers, if you want. And if you choose to, me and Jim can be your parents. It's all up to you, sweetie, all for you to decide. I just want you to know how much we care for you and how much everyone misses you. And we will wait for you to come back. You're always welcomed back."_ Will took a deep breath, before reading out loud the last words. _"With love, Joyce."_

Will gave the letter back to Eleven, who clutched it with both of her hands. They sat there for a while, in silence filled with their evening breaths.

"Are you my...b-brother, Will?", she asked then, voice thin because of crying.

Sniffling, he nodded. "I'd like to be."

She looked at him, her eyes full of uncertainty.

"In my family, it has always been just the three of us. My father has never been there, not for us. He left us a few years ago", Will explained to her. "But now, Jim's with us, and he's like a father to me, I guess", he continued softly. 

Eleven nodded. "I had papa", she whispered.

"You did?"

"A bad man", she muttered.

"Oh", Will didn't know what to say. He eyed at the dirty floor. Then Eleven poked his arm gently, and he turned back to her.

She then proceeded to point at herself. "I would be your brother?"

"Ah no", Will said, and Eleven immediately looked disappointed. Sad. "You would be my sister, because you're a girl", he told her fast. 

She crunched her nose. "Why not a brother, too?"

"You know", Will's voice was soft, and she liked the sound of it. "I already have a brother, Jonathan. You will be my, our, only sister." 

That brought a small smile on the girl's face. "Really?", she whispered.

"Yeah", he smiled. _This will be fun, this brother-sister thing._ "Really."

Eleven thought back to Nancy, how she was a sister. Even the idea, that she could be like that, made her feel warm inside.

She folded the letter in her hands, and carefully put it in her jackets pocket. That was when Will noticed just how much clothes Eleven had on. She had Mike's old jacket and a sweater, which apparently had a blue, plaided shirt underneath it. And a dress peeked from under all that. 

All of the clothes were dirty, some of them ragged, and none of them fit the small girl. Except for maybe the dress. Will wasn't sure about it.

"Are you cold?", he asked, causing the girl to shrug. "You just...you have so many clothes on."

The girl looked down at herself. "Not cold", she answered, turning back to Will. "I like them."

Will fiddled with his hands. "At home, you'd be better", he whispered to her.

They stared at each other for a while. Eleven looked sad and scared. 

"They're waiting for you", he continued. "We will find a way to bring you back, but you need to help us."

Then Eleven placed her hand on top of his own. 

And Will _saw_ the closet she had been thrown into. He felt her fear. He saw her kill armed men. His breathing hitched as he felt her pain, while being ripped apart by her own powers. It was like a memory, but it hurt. Eleven squeezed his hand. Then, he was surrounded by darkness, and he felt her loneliness. He heard the words people had called her, the anger in them. _Take her away._ He felt the hurt, the confusion and the fear she carried. 

_What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you!?_

He felt her anger, when they tried to get to her. Will felt her fear too, fear of herself, when he saw her lash out her powers on the men that had come for her, wanting to cage her like an animal. 

It stopped as suddenly as it begun. Eleven had tears falling calmly down her cheeks. 

Will turned his shaking hand around, and clasped it around hers. She gripped on to his.

"Nothing like that will happen", his eyes burned. He couldn't understand why it was them, that had gone through so much. 

"I am bad, Will."

"You're not, you just... You don't need to do those things, not anymore. Not with us, not with family and friends."

Eleven looked at him, trying to breath as evenly as possible.

"You won't be happy here, El."

Several emotions crossed her face, as he watched her, waiting.

"I know", Eleven said slowly.

"You want to come home?". Will's voice was filled with hope. Hope he finally wasn't afraid to have.

And, to his joy and relief, Eleven nodded. 

"Now we just need to figure out how", he told her. Then he looked at the window. 

Normally, he would've tried to guess from the amount of light from the outside what time it was, but in the upside down it was basically impossible. "I don't know how much longer I have now", he whispered.

He turned his sad eyes to Eleven, who had pulled the letter back from her pocket.

"You brought this?", she asked, showing it to him. Will nodded.

"I put it in my pocket, but I wasn't sure if I could get it here."

Eleven eyed Will for a while, then she hummed softly, with a small smile on her face.

"What?", he asked, before he suddenly knew the answer. "Ah, I can't put you in my pocket", he laughed. "That's true." Then Will got serious and looked at her. "You put that thought into my head."

"I tried", Eleven squeezed his hand, "this. Not mad, right?"

"Yeah", Will nodded. "That was cool." 

Before neither of them could say anything else, Will let out a cry and doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach with his free hand. When he moved his hand away, all Eleven saw was blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Sorry, guys. I have to do this.


	7. Can you feel my heart beating?

**Can you feel my heart beating?**

 

Joyce hadn't waken up when Jim had gotten out of bed an hour before, and left the house. But now she was wide awake, for no reason at all. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. 

6:08AM. 

A bad feeling settled in her stomach. Hoping that Jim was alright and nothing had happened to him, she got up and put on her night gown. 

Then she heard the scream.

Joyce ran, out of her room and down the hallway, to his youngest son's door and pushed it open with a bang. Jonathan was soon by her side, and for only a few seconds the time stopped for them. 

As her older son ran to call the hospital, she rushed into the room.

Will's wound on his stomach had opened, his pyjamas bloodied around it, and his nose and ears bleeding. 

And somehow, Eleven was there. She was crying, blood running down from her nose and over her lips, while hovering her hands over Will's stomach. 

"Will?", Joyce cried. His eyes were closed as she tried to test his pulse, but her hands shook too much. When she felt his breathing against her cheek, she let out a relieved cry. "We...we need to get him to the hospital", she told Eleven, who didn't remove her trembling hands. 

"Mom!". They could hear Jonathan run back to them, and soon he entered the room. "We need to take him, the ambulance...it would take too long."

"Help me carry him", Joyce got out. But before Jonathan had even had the time to move, Will's body rose from the bed and begun to levitate towards the doorway.

Eleven took a shaky breath, walking next to the boy, while she tried to wipe the blood from her face with a back of her hand.

 

Jonathan drove too fast and he knew it, while Joyce sat next to him with her body turned to the back of the car. Will laid on the backseat and Eleven was kneeling on the floor of the car, in the tiny area between the front and the back seat. She kept her hands over the wound the whole way to the hospital. 

Joyce kept her trembling hand on Eleven's back, stroking slowly. "It's okay, honey. You're doing great", she kept whispering to the girl, whose sobs grew by every passing minute. 

 

They already had bars ready for Will, when they pulled over in front of the main doors. 

It was all too surreal. Once again, Joyce was taking her son to the hospital. 

In front of the emergency room's doors they were stopped, and all three of them watched as Will was rushed inside. The doors closed and they couldn't see anything anymore.

Joyce turned her eyes to Eleven who stood in front of the closed doors, visibly shaking.

"Eleven?", she breathed out. 

The small girl in front of them turned around, making Joyce draw in a sharp breath, while the teen next to her tensed up. It wasn't pretty.

Eleven's skin was between white and grey. It looked thin, as the veins were showing through. Her small hands were red with blood, with her face covered in it too. Some of it was hers but a part of it was Will's, they were sure of it. It looked like she had tried to wipe it off of her face, leaving it smudged.

But all Joyce wanted was to gather the girl, that stood in front of her, into her arms. So she did. She opened her arms and slowly, Eleven walked into her embrace.

"Oh god, sweetie", Joyce cried, hugging her tight. "You're here, you're really here", she got out, not really believing it herself.

"--m sorry", Eleven cried out then, her voice thin and only barely audible.

"No, no, hush--"

"I'm sorry", the girl repeated, over and over again. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Don't", Joyce cried, closing her eyes tightly. "You have nothing to be sorry about, you hear me? Nothing."

Eleven hiccuped. "Will's hurt", she got out. "My fault."

"It's not your fault", Jonathan tried to reassure her. "He had a surgery before."

"No", Eleven said while she was trying to pull away from Joyce, who wouldn't let her go. "He saved me", she choked out. "But it h-hurt...him."

Joyce smiled, a watery one, despite all that was going on. "He got you out." 

"I hurt him", Eleven closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Then the doors opened, and a doctor walked to them.

Joyce pulled Eleven closer, as the girl trembled at the sight of the man and hid her head against the woman's shoulder. Joyce didn't dare to say anything, not sure why the doctor was out of the room so soon.

"Mrs Byers?", the man asked, making her nod stiffly. 

"You've got a miraculous son", the doctor smiled, sounding as tired as he looked. "The blood losses are almost nothing, which is really lucky considering how large the cut on his stomach is."

Joyce hugged Eleven closer. "Thank you", she whispered, so quietly that only the girl in her embrace heard it. 

The arms around her tightened their hold.

"I suppose he had surgery recently?", the doctor asked.

"A removal", Joyce nodded.

"You have any idea, what could've caused the cut to open so suddenly?"

She shook her head, not trusting her voice to lie.

The man nodded. "They still need to finish patching him up, but the danger is now over. He'll need to be monitored down here for a few hours, before you can see him. Just to make sure." Then he glanced down at Eleven, before turning back to Joyce. "If you want, we can take you to the room your son will be moved in later. I'll send someone there, to help your daughter to clean up."

"We'll manage on our own", Joyce said, offering the man a tiny smile. "Thank you."

Jonathan ushered Joyce and Eleven upstairs. "I'll go get us all some clothes", he said, pointing at their pyjamas and the girl's dirty clothing. "I'll bring something for you, too", he told Eleven in a low voice. 

She hadn't looked at him yet, not at Joyce either, keeping her eyes on the floor or on something else. But she nodded, as a sign of acknowledgement. 

Joyce took Eleven's hand, and together they made their way upstairs. They tried to take the elevator, but the cold hand in Joyce's started shaking at the sight of it. 

"No", the girl whispered. So, the pair took the stairs to the fifth floor instead. 

 

At the recovery room, Joyce led Eleven to the bathroom. She first helped the girl out of her clothes and then they washed away the blood, which had started to dry on her skin.

Eleven was covered not just in dirt and dried blood, but in different scars and bruises too. Joyce didn't want to ask about them, not even when the girl flinched when she had touched the large yellow bruise on her back. She helped her wash, as gently as she could, trying not to hurt her in any way.

"You want me to wash your hair?", Joyce asked softy. Eleven looked confused.

"Wash my hair?", she asked, pulling at the wet strands. She mulled the idea over, before speaking again: "How?"

"With shampoo, honey. I suppose you have never had it washed before. It's longer now, than last year", the woman told her. "It'll feel good when it's clean, I promise." 

After getting Eleven's permission, Joyce then told her every single thing she did and why she did them. It was comforting to talk and think about something else, than her son in the emergency room. 

Because even though he was fine now, she was still worried.

Joyce let the Eleven stay in the shower, to warm up, while she tried to save her clothes. She was going to wash her socks and underwear in the sink, but after one look at them she decided to just go and get new ones. So, she dumped them straight into the trash. 

The jacket and the sweater she could wash, although they looked like they had seen their better days already. The shirt under them, Joyce noticed to her surprise, was Jim's - the one he had lend to Eleven a year ago. It was the only thing that was only dirty, not shredded or torn. 

But the dress was a goner, and Eleven let her throw it away after a long persuasion. The rest Joyce put into a plastic bag, which she took from an empty trash can in the room.

"We'll get you something better to wear, okay? We don't need to wait for Jonathan, I'm sure they can give you something from here", she told Eleven, who nodded. "Do you want to come with me, or wait for me here?" Joyce asked once she had helped the girl dry and had wrapped her into a hospital bathrobe. Joyce dressed into a clean one too, after taking off her bloodied one. 

Immediately, fear crossed Eleven's features. "Come with you", she whispered.

Joyce smiled at her, draping an arm around her small shoulders. "Let's get going, then. Oh, put on the slippers. The floor's cold."

 

The first nurse they passed by got them the new underwear and socks they had needed the most, but Eleven got to choose the rest. The hospital collected used clothing, to give away for people in the need of them. 

And they just happened to be one of those people this time.

Eleven found herself jeans, which she had never had before, a simple shirt and a warm grey hoodie. She also chose shoes, which she carried herself, while Joyce carried her clothes. 

In the hallway, when they made their way back, Joyce noticed the peachy pink Nike logos on the white sneakers. She smiled and pulled the girl closer to her side, after freeing an arm to put around her.

After Eleven had changed into her new clothing and Jonathan had came back with the clothes, Joyce took a quick shower. Meanwhile Jonathan and Eleven sat in armchairs, both staring at the floor before them. He went back downstairs soon after his mother was ready, to wait for his brother. 

Then, they waited. 

 

Joyce combed Eleven's hair. It was thick and fell over her ears. They cuddled in an armchair together, talking about hospitals in general and why the girl didn't like them - they reminded her of the laboratory. Joyce told how glad she was to have her there, and promised that they would be going home after Will would be fine. 

Eleven's hair started to curl a little while it dried, settling nicely around her face. Joyce noticed the dark circles around her eyes, the high cheekbones, thin cheeks, the paleness, and how bony she was. 

And then, after starting to feel comfortable, Eleven looked into her eyes for the first time that morning before falling asleep in her lap. 

 

At nine in the morning Jonathan walked in, nurses behind him. They lifted Will from the bars to a clean bed and gave Joyce a report on his state. 

Eleven immediately woke up due to the noises and went to stand by Will, who was now asleep. Jonathan sat into one of the chairs next to the bed, while Joyce dragged hers to the bedside. 

She ran a hand through Will's hair, tears starting to well up in her eyes once again. Eleven followed the gesture with her warm brown eyes.

The woman noticed her stare and turned to the girl. "He's going to be fine, Eleven", Joyce told her, gaining a nod back.

"Eleven", Jonathan spoke up, causing her to turn around. The teen offered her a small smile, which she returned shyly. "Good to have you back."

Eleven looked at the teen for a few seconds. "Thank you", she said then slowly, as if unsure what the appropriate response would be.

"We should be thanking you", Jonathan chuckled tiredly. "You saved him, again."

"No", Eleven begun, shaking her head. "He got hurt--."

"You stopped the bleeding", he told her. "You saved him. And it was amazing. So thank you."

Joyce took the hand that Eleven rested on Will's bed to hers and gave it a squeeze. "Jonathan's right, honey. Will got hurt saving you, yes, but you saved him", she let out a soft laugh, her heart filled with relief. 

And Eleven cried again. 

Joyce pulled the girl back to her lap, and whispered simple and comforting words to her. Jonathan even mustered the courage to stroke Eleven's back. 

Will suddenly chuckled softly, startling the three of them. Getting up from his chair, Jonathan rushed to the bedside. Joyce and Eleven sat up in their chair better to look at him.

The boy looked at them smiling, his white teeth showing. "We did it, El", he said to the girl, before coughing a little. "...We did it."

Eleven got up then too, going to stand next to Jonathan. Joyce extended her hand to stroke her son's cheek, fighting back tears.

"Yeah you did", Jonathan ruffled his brother's hair, letting out a surprised laugh. "And scared us all at the same time, you little ass."

"Jonathan!" 

But Will laughed, softening the glare his mother was sending to his big brother's way. "I'm fine", he said, smiling softly at his family. "Sorry that I scared you."

"Are you fine?", Eleven whispered, frowning slightly in worry.

"Yeah", Will nodded, turning to look at her. "Are you?"

"Yes." Her stomach rumbled immediately after, making everyone except the girl herself laugh.

"We better get you something", Jonathan chuckled, looking down at the girl next to him.

"The cafeteria is open already", Joyce begun, searching for her wallet which Jonathan had brought for her. Then she pushed money into his hand. "Get her anything she wants and bring us something afterwards."

"Sure thing", the teen agreed, soon turning to Eleven. "You alright going with me?", he asked her, getting a shy nod as an answer.

"I'm hungry", she told him in a small voice, averting her gaze to the floor.

The two left the room, Jonathan guiding Eleven with a gentle hand on her shoulder. By the door she turned to take a look at Will, who smiled at her encouragingly.

"She's such a precious child", Joyce told her younger son when they were alone.

"She'll really stay with us?" Will asked, after remembering the words on the letter.

"Of course, honey", she assured him softly, smiling when he did.

Will relaxed against the pillows with a sigh. "I can't wait to tell the guys", he murmured, looking at the ceiling.

"You want me to call them? It's over ten, they must be awake already."

"Yeah, thanks", the boy said slowly, but then got an idea. "But mom...don't tell them about El."

Joyce understood and smiled, giving his hair a gentle stroke. "That'll be the best surprise for them, honey, in a long time."

 

Eleven got the chance to choose from any food she'd like, in the cafeteria, but she wasn't sure what to get. Everything looked and smelled good. She didn't see any eggos, though. And she wasn't sure what half of the things were.

"What is that?", she whispered to Jonathan, pointing at something behind the glass doors.

Jonathan lowered himself to her level. "Oh, bagels. You can try one now, if you'd like", he suggested.

"Is it...good?"

"Yes", Jonathan smiled. "Which one do you want?", he asked the girl, who stared at the food confusedly. "There's one with cheese and ham, one with cheese and cucumber...", he listed slowly, glancing at her in the between of the choices.

The girl frowned for a split second, before pointing at one. 

She had chosen one randomly, he could tell, but he opened the glass door and got the pointed one on the tray. Then he got normal sandwiches for him, Joyce and Will.

Eleven knew what hot chocolate was, so Jonathan got her and himself both mugs of it. He grabbed her a fruit cup, too. 

Her eyes gleamed at the sight of food, as they got to the cashier. While the woman rang them up, Eleven eyed the Halloween themed cookies with interest. Jonathan noticed it and got one of each kind.

Even though she was eating a bagel, Eleven kept glancing at the cookies.

"You can have them later", Jonathan sniggered at her. "Focus on your bagel, for now."

Eleven turned her gaze on him, eyebrows furrowed. She swallowed the bite. "What are they?

"Cookies", he told her.

And she rolled her eyes, she _actually rolled her eyes_ , and he was so glad.

"That?", she asked, pointing at one of the glazed cookies.

"Oh. A pumpkin", he told her, tilting his head to look at it, too. "These are all Halloween one's."

"Halloween?", she leaned a little forward over the table, waiting for an explanation.

"It's a party", Jonathan explained. "Kids dress up, go door to door and get candy. It was last week. I guess these are what's left of it."

Eleven pondered over his words. Then she pointed at another cookie.

"That's a ghost. Some people believe that when you die, you become one."

"You believe that?"

"I don't know", Jonathan admitted, looking at her.

After staring at him for a while, she nodded and took another bite of her bagel. Jonathan got back to his sandwich, too. And they continued their talk about ghosts. 

Eleven took in his every word. 

 

After the call from Mrs Byers, the kids had gotten ready in a record time. Mr Sinclair, Lucas' father, came to pick up Mike before they drove to Dustin's house. Lucas sat in the front, Mike in the back, both of them quiet and scared. 

They had had enough of the hospitals and white halls to last for a life time. And enough of blood and death. 

Dustin soon jumped into the back seat, looking at his friends with his eyes wide. "It's nothing serious, right?"

Mike stared at his feet. "I hope not."

Lucas drummed the hand-rest with his long fingers. "Mrs Byers didn't sound sad or shocked. It can't be that bad."

Dustin nor Mike couldn't fight back the feeling, that Lucas was just trying to make himself feel better.

"Relax, boys", Mr Sinclair assured them. "If he wasn't fine, you would know."

 

At the hospital, the boys got into the elevator and to the fifth floor, where they searched for the right room. 

"5019", Lucas pointed at the door. "This is it", he said, glancing at his friends.

Dustin took a deep breath, before knocking on the door.

_"Come in!"_

So, Dustin opened the door and the boys walked into the room. All of them remembered the year before, when Will had been rescued and brought into the Hospital. 

But now, Will looked much better than that time. He sat upright, propped against pillows.

"Hi", the boy said, smiling at his friends.

All the three of them lunged towards their friend, trying to hug him at the same time.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Boys, be careful of the wound--."

"You have a wound??", Lucas shrieked, immediately pulling away.

"It's the same as before. It opened. It's okay", Will told him calmly.

" _It's okay?_ You're in the hospital, it's not okay!"

"Boys, calm down, please."

"Sorry, Mrs Byers", all the three of them chorused.

"What happened?", Mike asked again, trying to keep his voice down. 

"Well... I woke everyone up at 6AM", Will told them. "The wound had opened and they rushed me into the hospital. They sewed it back and it's fine now, really", he smiled a little at the shocked faces of his friends. "I'm fine."

But the boys turned to Joyce for reassurance.

"He's fine", Joyce smiled at them. "Except his bed-rest will continue for longer than we thought", she looked at his son now. "Which means, that we really need to homeschool you. Just doing your homework won't be enough." 

The boys laughed at Will's defeated face.

"We can help you after school", Dustin suggested.

"Yeah, we'll study together", Lucas agreed. "It'll be fun."

"Thanks guys", Will beamed at them. 

"You want us to get you anything?", Mike asked, bringing the boys back to the moment. "Food, clothes, anything?"

"Jonathan's in the cafeteria now, he'll be up in a bit", Joyce smiled at Mike. "And he already got us all a change of clothing. But thank you."

Just then, the door opened. "Brought you both sandwiches", Jonathan said as he walked in, dropping the wrapped breads on the foot of the bed. "And juice for you", he handed the first drink to Will. "And a coffee for you. And change", he offered the coffee to his mother and money to her other hand.

"Thank you, honey", Joyce said, looking between Jonathan and the door, wondering where Eleven could be.

"Thanks", Will said, him too eyeing the doorway. 

Jonathan noticed that and smiled to his brother. Will looked at him, confused. Then the teen walked back to the door and opened it wide. 

"Guys", he said, gaining Mike's, Lucas' and Dustin's attention. "I brought you something, too", he smiled and guided Eleven into the room.

"Well, Will brought her, actually", he corrected himself, smiling none the less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. A calmer chapter this time, huh.


	8. Hold me now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. You guys... Over 900 hits already??? AMAZING. You know, this was something I basically wrote for fun, after I got the idea. I never thought that anyone would like it as much as you seem to do!
> 
> So THANK YOU!
> 
> Hope you enjoy the next chapter!
> 
> \- preciousbean

**Hold me now**

 

Jonathan and Eleven could hear the boys, when they reached the door. They stopped into the hallway and glanced at each other.

"Are you ready?", Jonathan asked, his voice just above a whisper.

And El shook her head, casting her eyes down to the sandwiches she held in her hands.

"You need a minute?"

"Yes", she whispered.

Jonathan balanced the drink holder to his other hand, before motioning the girl to give the breads to him. "I'll take these, okay?", he told her. "Then, I'll come get you."

"Yes", she repeated, nodding. She opened the door for him, as his hands were full. With a soft smile Jonathan disappeared into the room, letting the door close behind him.

Eleven stared at it, waiting, as she tried to calm her heart. She could hear the beat inside her head.

Before she was ready, Jonathan opened the door and smiled at her briefly before turning to face the room. "Guys.. I brought you something, too."

Jonathan guided her in gently, with a hand on her shoulder. It was the only thing that kept her moving, as her feet felt stiff and heavy.

"Well, Will brought her actually."

No matter how long she would have prepared herself, she wouldn't have been ready. She understood it the minute she saw them.

 

They just stood there for a while - Eleven at the door, Jonathan's hand on her shoulder, and the boys by Will's bed.

Lucas stared at her, his mouth wide open. Dustin lifted his hands into his curly hair, slowly ruffling it into more of a disorder. And Mike simply stared, eyes wide, at the girl in front of them. 

Dustin was the first to act. He rushed to the girl with a squeal, hugging her tight, lifting her feet from the ground and spinning her around. 

Eleven couldn't help the surprised giggle that escaped her mouth. It sounded weird and foreign, startling her. But it sent warmth into everyone else in the room, being the first time for them to hear it. 

Then Dustin put her down, looking at her from arms length.

"It's really you", the boy said, his eyes wide and a large grin on his face. "It's really you, El!"

"What the--", Lucas exclaimed, soon rushing to the pair. He wrapped Eleven into a hug, to which she responded shyly. 

"You have hair now!", Dustin pointed out. 

Joyce, Will and Jonathan laughed, and Eleven smiled at the boy over Lucas' shoulder.

"She has always had hair", Lucas told his friend, rolling his eyes. He pulled apart from the girl and turned to look at Mike. "Come on, you dimwit."

And Mike slowly came to them, staring at Eleven with wide eyes.

"El?", he questioned, not sure if he was seeing right.

"Mike", she said softly, offering him a shy smile.

And it was like Mike was brought back from a trance. He stopped in front of the girl, not sure what to do or say. 

Words wouldn't be enough, none of them, and not in any possible order.

"You're really here?", he chuckled, eyes locked with hers. 

He was nervous, scared to loose her the minute he touched her, like in the nightmares he had had over the year. He extended his hand slowly, caressing hers with an outstretched finger. The light touch sent a tingle through him.

"Yes." She offered her hand, and he took it. "See? Not a ghost."

Dustin burst in laughter. "She knows what _ghosts_ are!", which was followed by Lucas hitting him in the arm. "Ow!". 

"Shut it!", Lucas hissed.

Jonathan's chuckle reached Eleven's ears, making her proud of herself.

And Mike smiled at her. It was a small one, the smile, soft and shy. And to Eleven it was the one she remembered. It made her smile, too. 

 

Eleven looked different, and Mike realized that the girl he remembered was from a year ago. 

Mike had thought about this exact moment several times during the past year. What she would look like, would she be happy to see him again - things like that. But he had never thought that she would look so...normal. And not in a bad way.

Instead of a shaved head or a wig, she had hair of her own. Dark brown, a little wavy, some of it reaching her chin. Her eyes were still the same, warm shade of brown. But they were now softer, more relaxed, despite the dark circles around them.

To him she looked small, fragile, and strong. 

All that at the same time. 

She looked like El.

And he had really, really missed her.

Mike pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her thin shoulders. It already felt good and _just right_ , but then Eleven wrapped her own arms around his middle, placing her face against his neck. 

His eyes burned and he lowered his head, letting his bangs cover his eyes.

"Aww..", Dustin said, before joining the hug as well. Lucas sniggered until Dustin pulled him in, too.

Eleven loved the warmth. She loved the secure feeling of arms wrapped around herself. _A hug_ , she remembered. She loved hugs.

She squeezed Mike a bit tighter, who in turn pulled her closer to himself. She sniffed against his neck, taking in his scent which comforted her. He smelled like he had before. Safe. She heard Mike sniffle a couple of times, with his face buried down on her shoulder. 

Dustin patted her and Mike's backs, while Lucas simply stood there with his arms wrapped around his friends. The two of them backed up a bit, and Eleven slowly pulled away from Mike. He wiped his tears onto his sleeves, before carefully wiping away Eleven's, too. 

"No.. Now's not the time to cry", Dustin told them. "This is a happy occasion!"

"Yeah", Mike laughed, not wanting to step away from the girl much further. "You're right."

If it was a dream, Mike didn't want to wake up.

"Be happy", Eleven whispered to Mike and only he, Dustin and Lucas heard it.

"I am", he nodded, while wiping away another tear that fell on his face.

"Of course he's happy, El", Lucas reasoned, grinning at her. "You coming back just made him the happiest boy on the planet."

"Will brought me back", Eleven told the boys, who turned to look at their friend with wide eyes.

"You did?", Dustin asked.

Will smiled at them widely, leaning comfortably against the pillows.

"I told you", Jonathan commented, having gone to sit in one of the armchairs next to Will's bed.

"I don't think they would've heard anything at that moment, no matter who said what", Joyce told her son, smiling behind the coffee in her hand.

Mike immediately blushed, averting his gaze and turning slightly away from the eldest in the room. 

Eleven looked up at him, at the boy who was now half a head taller than her, admiring the color on his face. She slid her hand back into his, having missed the feeling over the year. It was even better than what she had remembered.

And she watched with interest how his face turned into an even brighter shade of red, right before her eyes.

 

Dustin and Lucas sat on the foot of Will's bed, each on their own sides, while Mike sat on the other bed with Eleven who he had pulled down next to him. He couldn't let go of her hand, no matter how giddy he felt. 

Will told them about the letter and how he had managed to somehow pull Eleven back home with him, by holding her hand. Mike must've looked like he felt at the moment, because Eleven leaned in closer to him.

"Something wrong?", she whispered, so no one else would hear.

Mike couldn't even look at her. He felt so stupid. "Nothing", he muttered back.

"How did you come up with it? Holding her hand?", Dustin asked.

"We didn't", Will blushed under the stares of everyone in the room. "It just happened."

At that point, Mike squeezed Eleven's hand in his a bit more.

Eleven squeezed back and immediately he was filled with a feeling, not his but Eleven's. The feeling of holding Will's hand, feeling reassured and comforted. 

And for a reason, it didn't make Mike feel any better. But that was before it changed. 

He felt what she did, while holding _his_ hand. The same giddy feeling he had filled his body and mind in a completely different way. It tickled his insides, made him blush and his hands sweat. He locked eyes with hers. 

And then her feelings were gone, but his stayed. They didn't feel much different, but Eleven's were much more exciting. They weren't his, they were towards him.

 

"She controlled the bleeding?", Lucas' voice broke their staring contest.

"What?" Mike asked, trying to get back into the conversation.

"Eleven used her powers to control Will's bleeding, somehow", Joyce let out a relieved sigh. "She did it from when they got back here, I think, all the way to the hospital."

"And didn't pass out?", Dustin asked in awe, turning to Eleven. 

The girl looked away, down to her feet. "I have practiced."

She effectively silenced the room with her words. But only for a moment.

"To the demogorgon?", Lucas asked.

"Why would she heal it?", Dustin huffed.

"Not...heal, but yes", Eleven admitted slowly. Then she glanced at everyone in the room.

It was about something big, important, they all felt it in the air. 

"You can tell us anything, sweetie", Joyce told her, from the other side of Will's bed.

Eleven looked at her hand, the one that wasn't holding Mike's. Then she pointed at herself.

"On me", she begun, then scrunched up her face as she was searching for words.

Will suddenly knew what it was about, as he remembered what she had showed him. 

Eleven lowered her hand back. "Can't say", she admitted, looking embarrassed.

"You don't know how to say it?", Joyce asked softly and the girl nodded. 

Will looked at her for a while, then glanced at Mike. "You think you could...show him?", he suggested.

"You know about that, too?", Mike asked immediately, eyebrows furrowed.

"About what?", Dustin questioned, looking confused.

"Yeah, about what, guys?", Lucas looked between the three.

"Tell them", Eleven suggested to Mike softly, giving him her permission. 

"Uhh", he started, looking between the girl next to him and the rest in the room. "She can like, tell me things, by touching me", he said, squeezing her hand absently. 

"You read her mind?", Dustin made a face, weirded out by the idea.

"No, no", Mike tried to explain.

"She projects into your mind", Will helped. "Shows you things", he added in softer voice, glancing at Eleven.

"Yeah", Mike agreed, offering a smile to his friend. Will smiled back at him so friendly, that Mike felt like he should apologize for even thinking more of the situation than what it truly was.

"I can show you", Eleven said, which made him turn back to the girl.

"You sure?", Mike asked.

Eleven nodded, before closing her eyes.

And immediately Mike got taken back in time, to the darkness. To nothing. It felt endless - it was endless. And he felt Eleven working really hard, concentrating on collecting her pieces. It hurt and it somehow shredded him, at the same time that it made him better, closer to complete. And it took really long. It was a short time, for him, but he felt how long it had really been. He felt the weeks go by.

Then he felt her sorrow and misery, and Eleven let go of his hand.

Mike immediately knew she had slipped, told him more than she had meant to. She looked at him, hurt visible in her eyes as she shook her head in a small motion. 

He wanted to tell her that it was okay, but he couldn't. If it had hurt him that much, in such a short time and just a mere memory, how much had it hurt her? What if it still did?

"Well?", Dustin asked. 

The whole room was waiting.

"She..", Mike choked. He hadn't even realized that he was crying again, until he felt a tear roll down his neck. "She had to collect herself, all the pieces of...after what happened", he managed to say, until he covered his face with his hands, gasping for air. Then he heard the cry Eleven tried to muffle up. 

Joyce got up from her seat and went to them, wrapping both Eleven and Mike into an embrace.

 

"She's staying with you?", Mike asked his friend, briefly glancing at Eleven. 

Jonathan had decided to give the kids some privacy, while Joyce had gone for a smoke. 

"Yeah", Will smiled. "Mom and Jim had already agreed to it", he said, before his eyes widened. "He doesn't even know you're back yet, El."

"Where is he?", Eleven asked.

"Visiting his mother", Will said slowly, remembering back. "He said that he'd be home in the evening, so you'll see him today, I guess."

The girl nodded, casting her eyes down to her hands as she picked at her short nails. They still had dirt under them. She didn't like dirt. 

Next to her, Mike didn't look satisfied at all.

"Get over it, dude", Dustin sighed at his friend.

"What?", Mike sulked, not daring to look at Eleven. 

The girl looked up and at the boys, trying to understand what was happening. She had curled up in the chair Joyce had freed, Mike sitting in the one next to it. 

"I know you thought that El could stay with you", Dustin explained, making Mike blush.

"I didn't", he mumbled.

"Yeah, you did", Lucas sniggered.

"It's not like they would let you sleep in the same house", Dustin teased.

"Why?" Eleven asked, her voice confused and worried. "Mike can't see me?"

"No, no", Mike hurried to explain. "They have no problem with us...seeing each other, El", he blushed at his own words, causing the rest of the boys to snigger at him.

Eleven didn't look convinced after hearing the boys laugh at Mike.

"You just can't sleep in the same place", Dustin explained.

"Why?", Eleven asked. 

She didn't like this. She knew she would go live with Joyce and Will, Jonathan and Jim, but she would have liked to sometimes sleep with Mike. In the same place with him. Like in the blanket fort. 

"Because you're a girl and he's a boy", Dustin offered.

"Will is a boy", Eleven said slowly, not getting what they meant.

Will couldn't help smiling. "Yeah, Dustin, I'm a boy, too."

"But you don't like her, you know?", Dustin said, like it would explain everything. But it didn't.

"You don't like me?", Eleven whispered, turning her gaze on Will.

"No!", Dustin exclaimed, lifting his arms in the air. Mike glared at him.

" _No?_ ", Eleven choked.

"He means that no, you got it wrong", Will helped. "I like you El, but in a way a brother likes his sister."

The girl frowned, glancing at all the boys before looking back at him. "Really?", she asked.

"Really. So it's okay for us to sleep in the same house."

Eleven nodded, but she still didn't look completely convinced.

"Really guys", Lucas sighed, turning to the girl. "It's not about just being girls and boys", he stated, gaining her attention. "Parents normally don't let their children sleep in the same room with people they _like_ like, you understand, El?"

"What do you mean...Like like?", she asked, focusing on him.

"You can like a lot of things, but it's different", Will tried to explain. "You can like me as a brother and Lucas as a friend--."

"You like eggos, El", Dustin spoke up.

Lucas decided to join in: "And then there's this like you feel for someone, who's--."

"Not a friend", Eleven completed his sentence. She remembered what Mike had told her, before he had placed his lips on hers.

"Yeah", Lucas nodded. "You get it now? And it's not just boys and girls, it can be two boys, or two girls, too."

Eleven nodded in deep thought. Mike tried not to squirm in his chair.

"I bet they'll let us all have a sleepover together, though", Will said. "It's my birthday next Sunday."

"Yeah!", Dustin got excited.

"Are you really up for a party, then?", Lucas asked, worry written all over his face.

"Yeah", Will smiled. "It'll be fun. You can come over on Saturday. We can watch the Star Wars trilogy."

"All of it?", Dustin asked, before he stood up and pumped his fist to the air. "Yeah!"

Lucas mimicked his friend, doing the fist pump, too. Will chuckled at them.

"Cool", Mike said, also laughing at his friends.

From her curled position in the chair, Eleven looked at the boys with interest.

"Star wars?", she asked.

Mike turned to her. "It's movie series. You remember Yoda, the figure I showed you? The green one?" Eleven nodded. "He's one of the characters in it."

She nodded again, face scrunched up while trying to understand.

"Remember when we watched TV?", Mike tried again. "Movie is a long story, that you watch from TV." 

"Like books, but with moving pictures", Dustin chimed in.

"Has she even read a book before?", Lucas asked.

"She can't read", Will told the boys.

"You can't?", Dustin asked Eleven.

"I know alphabet", she told them, eyes wide.

"That's a good start", Dustin told her, comfortingly. "I didn't know how to read before I was like, I don't know, nine?"

"I learned to read when I was six", Mike told her. "It's not hard. I can teach you, if you want?"

Eleven nodded, offering him a small smile.

"By the way...", Lucas started, looking at Eleven. "How old are you? Do you know?"

Eleven looked confused for a few seconds, but then she lifted her hands in the air, showing 'one' with the other hand and 'two' with the other.

"Three?", Dustin asked stupidly.

Eleven looked at her fingers, before looking back at the boy. "Twelve", she told him, furrowing her eyebrows. "I think."

"Oh", Dustin chuckled, and Lucas hit him in the arm. "What was that for?"

"For assuming that", Lucas shrugged.

"Do you know when your birthday is, El?", Mike asked.

"No?", she sounded unsure, glancing at the boys.

"When did you get presents?", Will tried to help her.

But Eleven simply looked at them, face blank. 

"You haven't had a birthday", Mike understood it. "Ever."

"What?", Dustin said, stretching the word. 

"Wait, like ever?", Lucas commented.

Eleven kept staring at the boys.

"We'll have to get you a birthday", Mike told her. "But next week we'll celebrate Will's, so you'll find out what it's really about."

She nodded and listened intently as the boys begun to explain presents, birthday cake, and everything you could do on that day. And she wondered how normal it was for them, as it was the first time she had ever heard about it.

 

When Mike got home later in the afternoon he stood a while in the front hall, not sure what to do. 

He then heard voices from the kitchen, and went to the doorway leading in there. His mother was making dinner while Holly laid on the floor, coloring a picture.

Karen turned away from the stove, immediately spotting her son in the doorway. "Michael?", she asked, getting his attention.

"Yeah?", Mike asked.

"Are you okay?", she asked, coming to him. "Is everything alright with Will?"

And her son nodded, before he initiated a hug. It was something he hadn't done in a long, long time. Karen closed her eyes, hugging him back. 

"She's back, mom", Mike said suddenly.

And she immediately knew who he meant.

"El's back", the boy chuckled.


	9. Tear down these walls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. OVER 1000 HITS!?
> 
> You're amazing. Oh, and your comments... I'm speechless. Like, really, I'm waiting for them after each chapter! They bring color to my grey november days.
> 
> \- preciousbean

**Tear down these walls**

 

Jim came home to an empty house. Chewy came to meet him at the door, whining and barking, so he let the dog out. 

"Hello?" His voice boomed in the hallway, as he checked the rooms. All of them empty.

He returned to the kitchen, where he saw a note on the table.

_We're at the hospital. Will's wound opened. Back in the evening. - Jon_

He rubbed his face, glancing at the clock. It was past nine, already. Would they even let the poor boy home on the same day?

Jim got a beer out of the fridge, after deciding to stay at home and wait for them there. He heard the front door open and when he made his way to the living room, he wasn't sure what he expected.

But he didn't expect to see Jonathan with a girl, for one. 

And not with any girl, either. With the girl, who he had been searching for almost a year now.

She was clean and there, standing in front of him. 

And she offered him a small smile, while her eyes were wide as she stared back at him.

Leaving his unopened beer on the living room table, Jim went to them, not really believing his eyes. 

Eleven stared at him, her face unreadable. She didn't flinch away, as he came closer, which at least was a good sign. It showed him, that she wasn't scared of him. And he didn't want her to be.

"How?", he breathed out the question, after a while of just staring at the girl in front of him.

"Will somehow brought her back, in the morning", Jonathan told him, and Jim turned his eyes on the teen. "That's why his wound opened."

"Whoa, that's...", Jim shook his head. "Joyce's gonna stay there for the night?"

"Yeah", Jonathan nodded. "They'll probably let Will come home tomorrow."

Jim turned back to the girl in front of him.

Eleven looked up at him, shyly, fiddling with the sleeves of what seemed to be Will's jacket. 

"Are you hungry?", Jim asked her. That was the only thing he could think of at the moment.

"Yes."

Jonathan chuckled, shaking his head at the girl. "You've been eating the whole day."

Eleven turned her eyes on Jonathan. "I'm hungry", she said in a quiet voice, unsure if it was normal or not.

"I don't blame you", Jim grinned, looking at her in wonder. "What would you like to have?"

"Eggos", Eleven turned back to him, looking serious.

The man groaned softly. "Aren't you tired of them already?"

She shook her head.

Jim sighed. "Well, I'm going to toast them this time. And you're going to have them with syrup. And you're going to love it", he told the girl, motioning for her to come with him.

Eleven followed him to the kitchen, where she was offered a stool at the counter.

And she ate, a waffle after another. Jim warmed some chicken for her, putting it on her plate, too. It was gone before he had turned back from the toaster. He poured her another glass of milk, and let her eat in peace.

"You got the letter?", Jim asked after a long silence. Jonathan stood in the doorway, watching over the girl.

"Yes", Eleven said, putting down the glass in her hand.

"Joyce meant every word on that paper", he told her seriously. "We'd like for you to stay with us."

Her brown eyes studied him for a while. "How long?", she asked. 

Eleven was good with hiding her emotions, as her face or body language didn't show them. But her eyes gave her away. They held fear, and Jim wanted to make it right this time. 

"Forever", Jim answered. Jonathan's face broke into a smile, as he watched the two. "If you accept us as your family... if you stay with us, you can stay as long as you want."

"Yes." Her voice was thick with confidence. Then she yawned, not even trying to hide it.

"I think that you can sleep in either Will's or Joyce's room tonight", Jim suggested. 

Eleven nodded slowly, eyeing her empty plate. It had syrup all over it. Then she looked at the man in front of her.

"Where do you?", she asked him.

"Sleep?", he confirmed. "If you sleep in Will's room, I'll sleep in Joyce's. And if you want her bed, I can sleep on the couch. The kid's bed is too small for me", he chuckled.

Eleven eyed him for a long time. "I sleep in Will's", she told him eventually.

Jonathan went to change the sheets without a word. He didn't want Eleven to see the blood, if there were any. And there probably were.

 

Jim and Jonathan sat at the counter in the kitchen, after Eleven had gone to bed.

She had wanted to keep the door open, which they didn't mind. Jim was sure he would hear her too, this way, if something would happen.

"I still can't believe it", Jonathan said in a low voice, frowning at the counter-top before him.

"Same here", Jim nodded, taking a sip of his now warm beer, which he had forgotten on the coffee table before.

Chewy scratched the back door and the teen got up from his seat to let the dog in, before slumping back down.

"Are they going to look for her?", Jonathan asked, glancing at Jim. "The people from the lab?"

"We have a contract", the man assured him. "She's safe with us."

 

After Jonathan went to bed, Jim went to check on Eleven. He stood a while in the doorway, watching her sleep. 

Her form was only a small ball under the blankets. Just to be sure that she wouldn't get cold, he went to cover her with another one and smiled when the girl curled up even more in her sleep.

Jim left the room, fiddling with the blue scrunchies on his wrist.

He could do this. 

 

Eleven woke up to a whine next to her head and opened her eyes to see a snout and a tongue. Immediately sitting up, she looked at the dog with furrowed eyebrows. She had never met a dog before, not like this.

Chewy, as Jonathan had helpfully told her in the evening, sat next to the bed resting his head on the mattress. The dog had been out in the evening, so she had gone to bed before seeing him. 

_Let him sniff you, first._

She did as Jonathan had told her to do. She slowly put her hand forward and in front of Chewy - who started sniffing it, making Eleven tense in anticipation. Then the dog licked her hand. And she thought it was the funniest thing in the world, so she let him do it.

The dog kept wagging his tail, and soon begun jogging to the doorway and back. Eleven got out of the bed. 

"Follow you?", she whispered. 

Together they went through the dim lit house, into the kitchen and to the back door. Chewy clawed at the door and whined, as quietly as he possibly could. Eleven tried to open the locks on the door, a couple of times, but failed.

After the fifth try she unlocked the door with a whisk of her hand, after which Chewy ran to the back yard. The cold air hit her body, while dressed in only pajamas that Jonathan had laid out for her from Will's closet. 

She felt like she shouldn't leave the dog alone, who now happily ran back and forth along the yard, so she went inside to grab the first jacket she saw and shoved her shoes on. 

Eleven sat down on the stairs, watching the sunrise and following the dog with her gaze. The jacket was so large for her that her hands disappeared inside its sleeves. But it was warm. She felt at peace.

Chewy came, every now and then, to wag his tail or just to sit next to her. After the dog had calmed down, she petted him for the first time. 

She liked dogs, at least this one. And their fur felt nice. 

She decided that she liked early mornings, too.

 

That was where Jim found her, an hour later.

"You scared me, kid", the man murmured, a cigarette between his lips. "I went to check in on you. Glad you weren't far."

Eleven looked up at him, and at the smoke he exhaled. "Didn't mean to scare."

"I know", Jim nodded. "Just...didn't expect you to be awake this early."

She patted the dog, who sat next to her. "Chewy wanted out."

The man laughed, the cigarette between his fingers. "You could've just opened the door for him."

"It was fun", she told him.

"Trust me, you won't think that after he makes a habit out of it - waking you every morning."

Eleven smiled, as she got up from the stairs. "Breakfast?", she asked.

Jim eyed her for a moment. "Can you say that in a whole sentence? Then we can go make something", he suggested and, after seeing Eleven's serious expression, added: "I know you can do it. I just think you need to be challenged, that's all."

After staring at him for a few seconds, Eleven asked again, slowly: "Can we have breakfast?"

"Yes!", Jim smirked, throwing away the bud. The girl offered him a shy smile, following him back to the house.

 

Once inside, Jim gave her instructions on how and when to feed Chewy, after she asked about it. She liked the way the dog thanked her afterwards, poking her hand with his snout.

"Now, human food", Jim told the girl, clapping his hands together. "I'm going to show you how I make eggs--."

"Eggos?"

"Nah-a, eggs, like these", he told her, getting a couple out for her to see. "I think you have the potential to learn these things."

"Potential?"

"I think you could be good at cooking food, as you like eating", Jim smirked at her. "Besides, we need more people in this household, who know how to make something edible."

"Food you can eat?", Eleven confirmed.

"Exactly. Now, do you want to hop on the counter, on here?", he asked, patting the place next to the stove. "This is pretty simply, but you need to see it the first time."

Eleven hopped on the counter, feeling somehow special sitting there. She watched the man broke the eggs in a bowl, and add something called 'salt' before mixing it up. He then cut something in little pieces, that made his and her eyes water.

"This is onion", Jim explained. "It gives the food a good taste. Also you stay healthier, you don't get sick so easily."

Eleven pointed at her face, her running eyes. "Why?", she sniffed. "I'm not sad", she told the man sternly, weirded out by the sudden tears.

"Yeah, onions tend do that", he told her, closing his eyes for a moment. "Uhhh...but it goes away. Eventually."

 

After the tears stopped, Jim asked what Eleven liked. Tomatoes? After showing her and her having a taste, yes. He got the seeds out from a few and diced them up. Ham? Cheese? Both an immediate yes. Jim showed her how he just cut them up and mixed them in. He let her try it with the ham. 

Eleven got to stir and she was excited about it all, looking intently at the yellow mixture. So many things she liked, all in the same bowl. She slowly kept stirring the eggs, while Jim warmed up a pan and melted a small amount of butter on it. 

"I'll cook this in three parts this time, one for you, me, and Jonathan each." 

The girl watched him pour the first third of the mix on the pan. It bubbled, and after a while it begun to look different.

"It changes", Eleven told the man, worried.

"It's the egg, it gets cooked. It's supposed to do that", he calmed her. 

She nodded, staring at the omelet. "Smells...good."

"Good", he nodded, then showed her how to flip it over.

Jim did the second one too, but with the third Eleven wanted to give it a go. She carefully poured the rest of the mix on the pan, concentrating hard. When it came the time to flip it over, she decided to try doing it too. 

"If you do it fast, it'll be easier", Jim advised her, and she nodded. And failed. 

Eleven looked at Jim, eyes wide. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine", the man chuckled. "You can still try to straighten the half with the spatula."

She did as told, and beamed at her work afterwards.

"Like I said", Jim patted her head. "You have potential."

"This is mine", Eleven said softly while pointing at the last omelet, which Jim was now placing on a plate.

"You made it, you get to eat it."

And Eleven decided, after having the first bite, that she loved eggs. They were warm, fluffy, and they had surprises in them - like pieces of ham or tomato. She couldn't find the cheese, though. It had disappeared after they had put it in.

 

Jonathan joined them soon, his hair sticking into every direction. "What's this commotion about?", he muttered, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "It's Sunday."

"Morning to you, too", Jim smirked at the teen. "Sit down, eat your omelet, and don't complain."

"You're not a morning person, either", Jonathan said, sitting down nevertheless. "Don't try to fool anyone otherwise." Then he turned to Eleven, offering her a sleepy smile. "Good morning, El."

Eleven blinked at him. "Good morning", she repeated.

"You slept well?", Jonathan asked, pulling the plate in front of him. She nodded, sipping her juice.

"Chewy woke her up", Jim told him and they both simultaneously turned to look at the dog who sat next to Eleven on the floor, panting and smelling the food on the table.

"Of course", Jonathan sighed, turning back to Eleven. "Just push him out of the room the next time, alright?"

Eleven shook her head, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "It was nice."

"To get waken up so early?", the teen chuckled.

Eleven had a small smile on her face, while she picked up a piece of toast from where they were stacked on a plate. 

Jim thought he understood it, the smile, while studying the girl. To get waken up by someone, no matter what time it was. To be wanted as a company. He thought it was nice, too.

 

They lounged around the house the whole day. 

Jonathan showed Eleven all kinds of things. The girl asked about television, and they watched it for a while. Then she asked about music, and he showed her his collection. She had a lot of questions, and 'how' was the word that most of them begun with. 

He didn't expect her to know things, instead he showed her every little gadget she spotted around the house, explaining how they worked and what they were for. And if Jonathan didn't have an answer, Jim usually did. 

 

Karen Wheeler called in the afternoon: to ask if Will had gotten home already, if Eleven was really back and fine, and if there was anything she could do.

"Yeah, actually", Jim said while looking over at Eleven who sat on the floor with Chewy, in the same clothes she had came home on the night before. 

Joyce had called already too, asking about her and telling him that she and Will would come home in the evening.

"Do you have any of Nancy's old clothes, which you could give to El?"

" _Of course!_ ", Karen told him. " _I can send Nancy to bring them with Michael, if that's alright_ ", she suggested, before lowering her voice. " _He's bouncing off the walls, he's so excited to have her back._ "

Jim rubbed his face with his free hand. He just couldn't understand the need to gossip about your own children to other parents. "That's fine", he told her.

" _What size is she?_ ", she asked.

"Um.. I really don't know. A little smaller than Will?", he said, unsure. "She's tiny."

" _I'll give everything I think would be close to her size, it's fine_ ", she said. " _Nancy was and still is small build, so I think they'll fit her._ "

"Thanks, Karen", he said.

" _It's fine, Jim. I'm happy to help. Well, I'll send the kids over when they're ready._ "

After ending the call he shared the information. "Karen Wheeler called", he said, getting the attention of both Eleven and Jonathan. "She will collect Nancy's old clothes, that could fit you, El. Nancy will bring them over with Mike later."

Both the girl and the teen looked excited. Too excited. So, that was the case, apparently. 

Jim scratched at the back of his neck, hoping he wouldn't end up in the middle of anything he couldn't handle.

 

"Nancy!", Karen yelled. She heard her daughter come down the stairs and a while after the teen entered the kitchen.

"You called me?"

Karen smiled at her. "Do you want to be of help?"

"Yeah, I guess", Nancy answered, unsure. "How?"

"Get your old clothes, one's that you fit in when you were at Michael's age. You still have them, right?"

"At the back of my closet, yes, some of them", she said slowly, eyeing her mother with a small smile. "Are they for Eleven?"

Karen nodded. "I thought that you could take them to her, with--."

"Mike", Nancy completed the sentence with a sigh. "He's like a lovesick puppy, mom", she complained. "He can't even sit down for the ride there."

"Let him be", Karen smiled, patting Nancy's cheek. "But don't tell him that you're going, before you're ready", she continued, starting to leave the room to join Holly into the living room.

"I would never", Nancy muttered, before returning into her room.

 

She took out a large bag and boxes from the back of her closet, from where she remembered they'd be.

The first one was filled with warmer clothing, jackets and jumpers, and she stuffed them straight to the bag. The second had jeans and skirts, from different sizes, so she had to evaluate which would be the right ones. 

After a few minutes, Nancy fully realized that she didn't need the clothes anymore. So she put them back into the box, leaving out the clearly too small ones, putting the whole thing near the door. 

 

It didn't take long before Nancy was done. Three boxes waited for her, stacked by the door. 

Nancy made a mental promise to herself, and to Eleven, to take the girl out for some shopping. She needed at least something, that was for her only.

"Mike!", she shouted then, eyeing the boxes. She was ready.

He knocked on her door and came in, looking at the mess she had made with large eyes.

"I'm not cleaning this up", he told her fast.

"I know! Help me take these boxes to the car", she pointed at the ones by the door.

Mike looked at her, eyes narrowed. "Where's the 'please'?"

"No 'please'", Nancy huffed. "I'm taking you to see your girlfriend. That's enough for you."

"El? Really?", Mike said, before understanding all of her words. He turned bright red. "S-she's not my girlfriend", he told her, picking up one of the boxes.

"Yeah?", Nancy smirked at him, swinging the bag to her shoulder before taking a box herself. "Could've fooled me."

 

After they had packed the car, Mike sat in the front next to his sister and they drove towards the town centre.

"Aren't we going to the Byers'?", Mike wondered, glancing at her. "That's in the other direction."

"I know", Nancy said, concentrating on the traffic. "I have to make a quick stop first."

"Couldn't you do your things on your own time?", he huffed, and soon stared at a clothing store they had parked in front of. "Really, Nance?"

She looked at him. "Those boxes are for Eleven, my dear brother", she said, pointing at the back of the car. "They are clothes, but she'll need some more."

Mike's whole face lit up. "Yeah?". He begun to open his seat-belt.

"Oh no, you're staying in the car", Nancy told him, opening the door with a wallet in her hand. "I'll be right back."

"Why can't I come along?", Mike asked, beginning to get confused.

Nancy shook her head and slammed the door shut after her, before locking him in. 

 

It was quite long ago when Nancy had used bras for the first time herself, but she remembered the time when she had started needing them. It had been awkward, and she'd need to talk to Eleven about them in private. She decided to start with them, choosing all the pretty ones she could find.

She also got Eleven matching underwear, everything in a range of colors and some of them with laces, like the bras were. Nancy liked laces and soft colors, and she thought that they were a safe choice with Eleven, too. She almost forgot the socks, getting several packs of normal ones and a few knee-high, after staring at them for a while. And few stockings, of course.

 

After throwing the shopping bag onto the back seat, she turned the car around and headed towards the Byers' house. Mike sat in silence, his cheeks red. 

Nancy smirked, hoping that he had understood the brief visit while she was gone. It would be more awkward for him to look into the bag, than it would be for her or Eleven if he did. 

She was quite sure that the girl didn't have a sense of privacy in those things. Like Dustin had once put it, Eleven had almost given the boys a 'strip show' on the night they first met.

 

When they pulled into the front yard they were greeted with Jonathan and Eleven, who came out of the house to help them.

Eleven stared at the boxes in the trunk in awe. "For me?", she asked softly. "Presents?", she continued, glancing at Mike. 

The boy smiled at her shyly, before he and Jonathan each took out boxes and carried them to the house.

"They are my old, so not quite presents, but they should be fine", Nancy told her. "I can take you shopping for new ones later, if you'd like."

Eleven looked at her then, and nodded. "Thank you", she whispered.

"It's nothing", Nancy smiled at the girl, getting a smile in return. "Welcome home, El."

"Home", Eleven whispered, glancing at the house, then at her, smiling shyly. "I'm home."

 

"Pretty..", Eleven whispered. 

Jim had told them to take the clothes to Joyce's room, before they could think of a better place for them. Nancy had closed the door on Mike's face. 

It didn't take long for Eleven to start going through the boxes. She had laid a soft pink summer dress on the bed and couldn't take her eyes off it.

"That's for next summer", Nancy told her.

Eleven looked at her with misery. "Can't wear it now?"

"It's too cold for that, but...", Nancy said, digging through another box. "Here", she said, showing her another dress. It was grey, with white trim on it's sleeves and hem. 

"I used this a lot when I was your age", she told Eleven. "You can use this now, with like leggings or something. Or knee socks and..", she trailed off as Eleven carefully took the dress into her hands.

"You are...giving these", Eleven said, glancing at the clothes and then turning to Nancy, "to me?"

"They're too small for me", Nancy told her. "But I bet they'll fit you just fine."

Eleven smiled a little, averting her gaze back to the dress while stroking the fabric.

"And I actually bought you something today", Nancy said, retrieving the bag she had left at the doorway. "I got you some new underwear, some socks, and bras. Have you had them before, bras?"

The girl shook her head, putting down the dress from her hands.

Nancy sat on the bed, next to Eleven. 

"Let's start with these", she said, pulling out the socks and panties. "You like the colors?"

"Yes", Eleven nodded.

"Good", Nancy smiled. "These in the other hand..", she started and pulled out one of the bras, "are bras." She let Eleven take them into her own hands and look through the rest in the bag. 

"Girls need them, to...support their chest, when they grow up", Nancy told her, unsure of how she should explain it. She then put them into two piles. 

"These are a little more grown up", Nancy pointed at the first pile, "than these. I got a few of them both, for you to try which one's you like better."

"I like both", Eleven told her.

"You need to try them on, before you know", Nancy chuckled, smiling at her.

"Now?"

"You can start with them tomorrow", Nancy shrugged. "For now, I suggest we put these away and you go hang out with Mike before we need to go. We have school tomorrow."

"Oh", Eleven said, looking at the piles of clothing. She then focused a little and levitated the clothes, maybe a bit messily, back into their boxes.

"Wow", Nancy laughed, looking at the now much tidier room. "That was...cool."

Eleven smiled.

 

Mike sat on the living room couch, reading _the Adventures of Lando Calrissian_ , which Will apparently had left in there. Eleven joined him, sitting down next to him.

He looked up from the book. "You ready?", he asked, smiling at the sight of her.

Eleven nodded. "Nancy is with Jonathan", she told him, turning to look at the book. "You were reading?", she asked him slowly, looking at the book in deep thought. "You like it? Reading?"

"Yeah", Mike nodded. "But you'll learn to read, too, okay?"

"You promise?" Eleven asked. Her voice was so soft that it made Mike feel warm inside.

"I promise", he said. 

Eleven nodded, and then pointed at the book in his hands. "Is that good?"

"I guess, yeah", Mike shrugged, eyeing her. "You want me to read for you? You can follow the text, that's how I learned to read." 

Eleven nodded, and they arranged themselves so that they leaned against the back of the couch and both saw the book. 

 

At first it was hard for Mike to concentrate on reading, with Eleven so close to him. Their legs, sides, and arms touched, making his skin tingle. And soon Eleven leaned her head on his shoulder. 

He couldn't stop thinking how right it felt, having her there. He had missed her so much, and now it was like she had never been gone. And at that moment, when it was just the two of them, he basked in her presence.

 

Eleven knew, that she could listen to Mike's voice forever. It had changed from what it was before. It was lower, but hearing it made her just as happy as it had before. He was a good reader, too. 

At first she couldn't listen to anything he said. She leaned her head on his shoulder, to see better, but she could also hear his heart thrum in a thrilling rhythm. But he kept talking and soon she found herself following the words on the paper.

 

Will got home in the evening, and went almost straight to bed under the pressure of his mother. But he felt too restless for sleeping so after reading for a while he laid in bed with his sketchbook, waiting for inspiration. He didn't really feel like drawing, but he wanted to do something.

"Will?"

The boy turned to the doorway, meeting Eleven's eyes. She was dressed in one of her pajamas, that she had gotten from Nancy. 

"El?", he said in a low voice. "Is something wrong?"

"Can't sleep", Eleven whispered. She was meant to sleep in the living room, on the couch for now before they found a better place. And she was fine with the solution.

Afraid that someone would wake up, Will motioned her into the room. "Why?", he asked, after she had sat down on the foot of his bed.

Eleven shrugged, eyeing him. "Why can't you?", she asked slowly.

"I don't know", he whispered, casting his eyes to the sketchbook on his lap. "It's just...I don't know."

"I understand", she told him softly. 

Will decided to teach her the 'house-game', asking her to bring his notebook and two markers from his desk. It was something that Jonathan had taught him, who had been taught by their mother. 

"So, the idea is, that the one who completes more houses wins", Will explained to her in a whisper, opening his blue marker. 

The girl nodded. She sat on the edge of the bed next to Will, who leaned against the pillows.

"See these squares on the paper? A house is one square, which has all it's walls, like this", he made one on the top of the page, coloring it afterwards. "We take turns, making one wall at a time, where ever you want on the paper. When you draw the fourth wall, you color the house with your marker."

Eleven nodded, before drawing the first line. 

Will smiled, drawing his a little further away. 

Slowly, they filled the whole page with little houses, in a comfortable silence. And when they were done, they didn't feel the need to count them. When she left his room to go to sleep, he shut his lamp on the bedside table.


	10. As free as the wind, and hopefully learning

**As free as the wind, and hopefully learning**

 

On Monday morning, a knock on the door startled Eleven who had slowly been eating her cereal at the now empty kitchen table. Jonathan and Jim had already left, and Will was still sleeping.

"Can you open the door, El, honey?", Joyce asked from the bathroom.

"Yes", Eleven said, loud enough for her voice to carry down the hallway, as she got up and headed towards the front door. 

She knew that Mike's mother, Karen, was coming with his another sister but she felt nervous. After opening the door, she eyed the woman and the little girl with curiosity. 

Eleven had never truly seen them, but she was quite sure that she would like the both of them. She liked Mike, and Nancy too.

"Oh", Karen said, before a smile formed on her face. "Good morning." Holly openly stared at Eleven and the girl stared back for a few seconds.

"Good morning", Eleven repeated, letting the two in. It was still weird for her, how greetings worked, so she had decided to let the other person to lead in those things.

After Karen put Holly down, she begun taking off the toddler's outer clothing. 

"These", Holly lifted her hands up, showing her mittens to her mother.

"Wait a second, honey", Karen muttered, unbuttoning the girl's jacket.

"It's hot", the girl whined.

Eleven didn't like hot either, so she used her powers to levitate the mittens off the small hands, placing them on the bench by the door. Holly watched this with wide eyes and her mouth open, and Karen blinked a few times before turning her gaze on Eleven.

"Michael helpfully told me, that you might do that", the woman remarked, her eyebrows high and a surprised smile on her face.

"Sorry", Eleven frowned, fiddling with her hands nervously, "if it scared you."

"It's not like that", Karen told her softly, before taking off the rest of Holly's and her outer clothing. Then the woman came to her, offering her hand. 

Eleven scrunched up her nose a little, glancing at the woman in the need of an explanation.

"It's a handshake", Karen told her softly. "When you meet a new person, you sometimes shake hands with them. You take my hand, with your right one - yes, like that. Then we do this", she said, shaking their hands gently. "Hi, my name is Karen."

"El", Eleven said softly, looking at the woman. "My name is El."

"Nice to meet you", Karen beamed at her.

"Nice to meet you", the girl repeated, before the woman let go of her hand and guided her daughter forward.

"And this is Holly."

"Hi", the girl said shyly, hugging her mother's leg.

Eleven saw the small smile on her face, which caused her to smile too. "Hi."

 

Karen had read her fair share of psychology, so when Joyce and Jim turned to her for an opinion about Eleven, she advised them to let the girl open up on her own. Right now the girl needed to feel herself safe and comfortable around them, and have at least somewhat structured life to bring her certainty. 

So that was what they did. It seemed to work pretty well, too.

 

Eleven slept in the living room, if she didn't sneak next to Joyce in the middle of the night of course. Jim had twice already waken up in the morning with the two girls cuddled next to him. 

Will had tried to give Eleven his room, but she had refused. It was Will's and she didn't want to take it from him. He had already given her enough - in her opinion at least.

Jim had also hired people for the house. And, if everything went like planned, they would move in early spring. 

When Joyce had heard it, even the mere idea had made her cry. 

Yeah. It did sound pretty good to Jim, too.

 

And Will was healing again. Even if he had to stay at home and rest, he was glad to have Eleven with him during the days.

While Joyce and Jim both had work, Karen Wheeler had wanted to step in and help. She came over every morning with Holly, prepared lunch for the four of them and made sure that Will studied everything the teachers had told him to. They had actually made him a schedule, for the time he would need to stay at home.

And while Will studied, Karen took time to teach Eleven every possible thing she didn't know. They begun from the alphabets, which she already knew, moving on to numbers and time concepts. Little things first. 

Eleven learned fast. 

She had even begun to read on her own. Children's books at first, simple sentenced and at a slow pace, but soon she could read about things she found interesting. And Eleven found almost everything interesting.

 

On Friday, it had been almost a week from when Eleven had returned. 

Jim watched the children from the dining room, while setting the table. "I think I'm going to take her shopping after dinner", he said to Joyce, who had just came to his side with a salad bowl. "To get Will a present."

"She doesn't need to get Will anything", Joyce told him softly.

"Think about it this way. If it was her birthday, Will would want to get her something or am I wrong?", he said, and smiled as the girl reached to pick up a pencil Will had just dropped. "After she sees everyone else giving him presents, she would feel bad for not getting one."

"His favorite store is on Parker Street", Joyce immediately whispered, coming closer. "He likes--."

"I know", Jim smiled, shushing her. "We'll find something El sees that would fit him."

Eleven lifted her eyes from her drawing, to look at the two of them.

"You don't think she can hear us from there, do you?", Jim whispered, trying to keep his face straight.

"I don't know", Joyce whispered back. 

The adults watched the girl continue drawing, adoring the scene before them. 

"Eggo", Jim whispered, after a minute. The girl immediately looked up at him, lifting up her eyebrows.

Joyce hit his arm, while Jim's shoulders shook from laughter.

"Nothing, kiddo", he told Eleven, who still kept her eyes on him. "Dinner's in a minute."

 

While they drove to town after dinner, Eleven surprised Jim with a question.

"You saw your mother?", she asked. "Saturday?"

"I did, how did you know?", he murmured, glancing at her.

"Will told me", she said, keeping her gaze on the road. Jim waited for her to continue, but she didn't.

"My mother is old", he said after a while. "She won't live for much longer." He then felt Eleven's eyes on him, and he glanced at her again. 

"She dies?", the girl asked.

Jim nodded. "Yeah, but it's okay."

"She is happy", Eleven said slowly, "you saw her."

"Maybe", he said. He didn't dare to tell the girl, that his mother didn't even recognize him anymore.

"I--", she begun. "Do I have a mother?"

That was something they hadn't known how to bring up with her. 

"Yes", Jim nodded, his eyebrows furrowing. "Everyone has a mother and a father, even if they weren't around." 

Eleven nodded.

"I tried to contact your mother on Monday", he continued, frowning at the road before them. "Her sister told me that she, your mother, had passed away."

"Passed away?", she repeated slowly, then she understood the reference. "Dead?"

"Yeah, kiddo. I'm sorry. She was...sick, the last time I saw her."

He waited for her to answer again, but she didn't.

"We could go and visit her grave?", Jim suggested.

"Grave?"

And for the rest of the drive he explained to her what burials, graves and graveyards were, and what they meant.

After their conversation Eleven had a few more graves in mind she wanted to visit, not just her mother's.

 

"Hey chief", the man behind the desk greeted them. "Didn't expect you to visit my store like in...ever, really?"

"Hey", Jim nodded, with a small smile on his face. Eleven eyed the store with interest. "Getting a birthday present for Will Byers this time."

"Yeah? What did you have in mind?"

"Just letting El here decide", he chuckled, motioning towards the girl.

"Oh", the man started, getting a good look at the girl. "You're Will's friend, yeah? He and his friends are my most loyal customers", he smiled. "I'm Scott, very nice to meet you."

Eleven gave the man a small smile. "El", she said.

"What a pretty girl you are, El", Scott chuckled. "The boys must be ecstatic."

Jim ushered the girl to go choose the present for Will. 

_Anything Will would like._

Eleven went through the shop slowly. She stopped to look at videotapes, cassettes, posters, comic books... What would Will like?

"Is she a relative of yours?", Scott asked. "Or Joyce's?"

"She came to live with us, recently", Jim explained. He knew that their living arrangements were already known. Still, he didn't like announcing his family matters around the town.

"For a while, or...?"

God, these nosy people.

 

Meanwhile, Eleven stopped in front of a glass cabinet. She got the feeling that there were something important in there, so she slowly went through every little box and thing behind the glass, starting from the bottom. Then, on the top shelve, there was something that caught her eye. 

A box with figures standing in a row, wearing strange clothing. Eleven smiled.

"This one", she said, looking at the box on the top shelve, interrupting the men's conversation. 

Jim sighed inwardly as he begun walking towards her, grateful of the girl's good timing. "You found it already? Let's see... Ghostbusters?", he read the package slowly, then looked down at the girl. "That one?"

Eleven nodded.

Scott came over and opened the cabinet, taking out the box. "Will has had his eyes on this thing for two months, ever since it came into the store", he said. "He must've really liked the movie, huh?"

Jim actually knew that he did. "Saw it three times in the summer", he chuckled. Then he narrowed his eyes playfully at Eleven, who looked up at him with her large and innocent ones. 

 

After paying, and Jim teaching Eleven how to wrap the present with the only gift wrapper Scott had, they sat back into the car.

"Present is a surprise?", Eleven smiled at the gift, which was now wrapped in a simple brown paper and was inside of a small bag.

"Exactly. Present is something that the other will be happy and surprised to get", Jim said, before laughing with his raspy voice. "I think you succeeded in both of those things."

"Really?", she asked, her voice full of excitement.

"You can't tell him what it is, let him open it himself on Sunday", Jim reminded her.

Eleven nodded, having gone back to being serious, and glanced at the present again.

 

With the little space they had, it was under a planning to get everyone a place to sleep for Saturday.

"I can go to Jim's place", Jonathan suggested, while they were having breakfast on Saturday morning. Everyone were up and around the table, including Will. "You'd get an extra bed in here."

"One extra bed isn't enough", Joyce murmured, digging into her eggs. After the first bite her eyes widened, and she moaned. "These are good, who made them, huh?", she asked while eyeing everyone, stopping to a shy looking Eleven and one satisfied looking Jim.

Jim pointed at the girl next to him. "She did."

Joyce laughed and got up, going around the table to give the girl a hug. "You're such a precious child, these are amazing", she gushed, placing a kiss on the girl's forehead.

"Jim helped", the girl said, smiling never the less.

Jim shrugged, looking smug. "I did, didn't I?"

Eleven frowned at him. "I said you did."

Will sniggered on the other side of the table, making everyone else laugh too. Even Eleven, who knew that she had said something funny again. She didn't mind giving everyone a chance to laugh every now and then. Joyce gave her head another kiss, before sitting back down.

"Where were we?", she huffed, looking at everyone's smiling faces. "Oh, the sleeping arrangements, right..."

"What if", Jim begun, glancing at Jonathan, then turning to Joyce. "We stay here, 'til the kids go to bed, and then we", he motioned between him and her, "drive to my place for the night. Some of the boys can have the bed in your room, it's probably big enough for all the four of them, and El could sleep in Will's room."

Joyce simply stared at him for a while. Then she turned to Jonathan. "You can handle the responsibility over the night?"

"I'm seventeen already, mom", the teen chuckled. "Besides, you're a phone call away."

"And ten minutes by car. We'll be back in the morning, anyway", Jim reminded him. "And, if everyone sleeps during the night", he said, looking at Will and Eleven, "there's nothing to worry about."

Eleven blinked at the solution, but Will looked quite happy. She didn't really like the idea of sleeping alone, but she could do it. It was for Will's birthday. He should be happy.

 

Dustin's mother dropped off all the three boys at the same time. They came in with their backpack's full, almost bouncing from excitement.

"Here, Mrs Byers", Lucas said, offering a large container for Joyce. He had been the first to hung his jacket. "My mom send these."

"Oh, why thank you, Lucas", Joyce smiled, opening the lid to peer inside.

"Cinnamon rolls", the boy explained. "She made them this morning."

"Really?", Will asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah", Lucas chuckled. "She remembered how much you love them."

"I need to call her, to thank her", Joyce smiled at the boys. "You can have these later, okay?", she said, while already taking the container into the kitchen.

 

After Dustin and Mike had taken off their outer clothing too, the boys decided to have a round of one of their favorite card game. It was still early, and they didn't want to start the movies so soon. 

They gathered around the dining room table, Will and Lucas on the other side, Dustin and Mike on the other.

"Where is El?", Mike asked, looking around. He had to turn around in his chair to look back to the living room.

Will smiled at his friend. "She wanted to take Chewy out." 

"Actually, he wanted to take her out", Jonathan told the boys from the kitchen, making everyone chuckle.

"Anyway, she should be back soon", Will said, preparing his deck. 

"Let's get started, then?", Dustin suggested. "The winner...gets to decide which pizzas we get tonight!"

"Oh, no, not you then", Lucas shuddered. "There'd be pineapple in every one of them."

"You better hope your deck's good enough", Dustin challenged.

"I just made a new one", Lucas said, looking smug.

"Yeah?", Mike asked, shuffling his deck. "What color?"

"Red and black."

"No way", Will grimaced, looking at his friend. "Like red wasn't bad enough already?"

Lucas nodded, looking happily at his friends. "Prepare yourselves, guys", he advised, grinning widely.

They started the game and their chatter increased. And like every time they played, someone, usually Mike, had to keep the rule book at his reach. No one seemed to remember the rules, which was a lie because they did, they just didn't want to believe them. So he had to keep repeating them over and over again.

 

"Hi, El", Lucas said suddenly, causing Mike and Dustin to turn around to see the girl behind their backs.

"El!", Dustin cheered. Mike offered the girl a small smile: "Hi."

"Hi", the girl said, smiling back at the boys. Then she stopped to Mike, who was looking at her with his whole face red. "Mike, are you okay?"

She said his name so softly, that Mike felt like sliding under the table was a perfectly good idea.

"Y-yeah", he stammered. The boys sniggered at him. "I'm fine, El."

"Good", she said, before turning to look at the table and at the game on it.

"You want to sit and watch?", Will suggested, to which she nodded.

They made room for her between Will and Lucas. The two boys explained some things to her, one at a time, showing her their cards. Dustin concentrated on his game, to winning, but Mike kept glancing at the girl on the other side of the table. 

Eleven had a denim dress, a white long-sleeved underneath it, paired with grey leggings - but she wore them better than he had ever seen anyone wear anything. Her cheeks were red from being outside, in the cold. His cheeks were red for a completely different reason.

She concentrated on the game, as hard as she could. She liked Will's deck better than Lucas'. It was white and the cards were pretty. 'Angels', Will had whispered after she had stared at them for a while in silence. He played nicely, not really harming others. 

Lucas on the other hand did as much damage as he could, to everyone. And he enjoyed it. He even laughed afterwards after doing something to Dustin that made both Will and Mike sigh in relief, while Dustin huffed in annoyance.

She got up, to go around the table. 

Dustin's deck was a mixture of everything, but mostly green. The way he played looked like fun, as he didn't plan so much ahead like Will and Lucas did. Dustin simply threw cards at the table at the right times. 

Listening to the bickering with a small smile, she moved behind Mike to look at his hand, too.

"Oh", Mike said in surprise, when he noticed her watching over his shoulder. "You want to take a chair? You don't need to stand."

Eleven pulled a chair next to him and he turned to show her the cards better, which were all blue. 

She smiled at them.

Mike had apparently been looking at her, because he immediately whispered to her. "What?"

"You like blue", she whispered back, glancing at him.

"Favorite color", he nodded, looking back at his cards again.

Eleven let him concentrate. She took in the way he arranged the cards in his hand, every time he got new ones. Suddenly she grabbed Mike's arm, before he used a card his fingers had stopped onto. She tried to push him the feeling to not use it yet. 

Mike wrinkled his nose for a second before he slowly moved his fingers along the cards, choosing another one. He was close to winning anyway, he knew it, so he could wait one more round.

And she had been right. On the next turn the three other boys kept emptying their hands on the table, and Mike looked at it with wide eyes. Then he slammed the card on the table, getting rid off basically everything.

"What the...", Dustin said, glancing at the card on the table.

Will took the card in his hand, reading the text through. "Kraken", he sighed then, throwing the card back onto the table.

"No!", Lucas shouted, frantically going through his cards on the table and in his hand.

"How many islands do you have?", Dustin leaned in to look at Mike's cards.

"No!", Lucas repeated, dropping his head to his hands.

"Many", Mike laughed, taking Eleven's hand in his under the table. He turned to her, and she had a small smile playing on her lips. "Cool, huh?", he asked, smiling widely. 

Eleven nodded, even though she wasn't sure if she understood everything that had been going on. 

"I get to choose the pizza today", Mike said, and Eleven scrunched up her face a little. 

"She doesn't know what pizza is", Lucas said from the other side of the table, reading the situation faster than the rest of the boys.

"Really, El?", Will asked the girl, who shook her head in confusion.

"She has never had pizza before?", Dustin asked, looking horrified. "Monsters", he huffed under his breath. 

And even Eleven knew that he meant the people in the laboratory.

"We should get different kinds, then", Mike suggested. "So you can taste them all."

"I hate to interrupt this, guys", Dustin sighed, "but we need to stop talking about pizza, if we're not going to order it now."

"What if we watch the first movie now, and then before the second one we order?", Lucas asked. He glanced into the kitchen, at the clock there. "It's four soon. We should start the movies if we want to finish them today."

 

And so the boys and the girl moved to the living room, around the TV that had been moved closer to the couch for the evening. Lucas chose to sit in the armchair, while the rest took the couch.

Eleven leaned forward during the whole movie, thrilled by everything on the small screen.

Mike felt like he concentrated more on the girl next to him and on her reactions, than on the movie itself. But so did the rest of the boys. They all wanted Eleven to like the series as much as they did.

Little did they know, that Eleven loved it. She also somewhat realized why none of them were creeped out by the powers she held inside of her. 

She watched with interest how the young man in the movie started to explore the powers he had, learn how to use them the best. And how he had a papa too, to help him, but his papa was much nicer. And honestly better in every possible way.

When the movie ended, all the boys looked at Eleven with hopeful eyes.

"Did you like it?", Mike asked her.

"Yes", she laughed, making everyone grin because it was her that was laughing and it was a delicate sound they didn't hear that often.

"She's clearly a Jedi, Mike", Will laughed. "Of course she liked it."

"Really?", Eleven asked, a huge smile forming on her face. "I can be that good?"

"You're even better!" And with that, Dustin fell into an explanation about how she could do the things for real, what they weren't in the movies. And that she would get even better with practice. 

But she didn't ask about whether she could get better at it or not. She had watched the scenes with Darth Vader with wide eyes. And while the boys had thought that she found them exiting like they did, she had been horrified. She didn't want to turn dark.

 

Eleven looked at the open boxes on the kitchen table. She had never seen anything like that, and to say it looked suspicious was putting it mildly.

The boys loaded their plates and took glasses of soda, while she kept staring at the pizzas. Will noticed her not making a move, and came to her side.

"What's wrong?", he asked.

"It looks...weird", she said. And she immediately felt bad for saying so. 

Will turned to look at the pizzas, too, trying to think like he had never seen a pizza before.

"You should try it", he said slowly, glancing at her. "I bet you'd like it, even if it looks weird."

Eleven kept looking at the boxes and the steaming food. Will decided to do the same thing that Jonathan and his mother did, when he was feeling doubtful of trying something new. And he had been, many times. For example when he had tried Chinese food for the first time.

"Look", Will said, lifting one piece from the nearest box, before her face. "This one has ham and pineapple, which Dustin likes the best. With cheese, and tomato sauce", he added. "Take a bite and if you don't like it, I'll finish it."

She glanced at him, eyebrows furrowed. 

"It's fine, just try it", he assured her.

And Eleven slowly took a bite of the offered slice. After the skin between her eyebrows smoothened, Will chuckled and put the rest of it on her plate.

"Good, huh?", he asked.

"Yes." She took another slice from the same box, making the boy next to her grin.

"Dustin", Will called, turning to the boys. "You got another pineapple lover to your ranks", he said, pointing at the girl next to him.

Dustin cheered, coming to hug the surprised Eleven. "Yes!"

 

While the second movie begun, the boys tried to get Eleven taste the rest of the pizzas. She looked doubtful.

"You need to taste the rest, El", Lucas told her.

"You just can't accept the fact that she likes pineapple on it", Dustin said smugly from the armchair he had moved on to. "Just accept it."

Mike tried to keep a straight face while Will shredded pieces off the slices on his plate to put them on Eleven's, who sat in the between of them. 

He couldn't understand, how he couldn't have been the first to think about doing so. He watched the way that Eleven tasted them, one at the time, and offered Will a tiny nod afterwards.

He felt a bang in his chest because of his jealousy. He wanted her to have a family around her, to care about her, but he had really thought that it could have been his. Then he remembered Lucas' words, from their talk at school, a couple days before: 

_"How could that have worked, with you having a crush on her?"_

And really, as he spend time to think about it, this was better. Eleven now had a family: two bothers, a mother, and a father. She didn't call them that, at least not yet, but that's what they were to her. She also had two friends, Dustin and Lucas, and she had him. 

And Mike didn't really want to be in any of the categories the other boys were: not as a brother, and not only as a friend either.

 

During the third movie, everyone were full and relaxed. 

Will nibbled on his second cinnamon bun. Lucas kept rambling to him about the movie, pointing out some things in the background that the other boy hadn't yet noticed. Dustin kept yelling at the screen, at points which didn't go as he would've wanted them to. 

And Eleven finally sat back, relaxing next to Mike. Then she slid her hand in his, lacing their fingers, before glancing up at him. 

It felt like magic, that soured through him. 

The living room was almost dark, except for the television and the light that came from the kitchen. He could hear the movie, hear the voices of his friends, and the noises coming from the adults who were making the beds ready for them. But all he could concentrate on was the girl next to him. 

He stroked her thumb with his, slowly, sending butterflies to both of their stomachs.

Eleven squirmed at the feeling. Mike felt his face heat up as he was looking slightly down at her. Her face was so close to his, that he noticed the faint blush on her cheeks. 

Then Eleven turned back to the movie and he swallowed, turning back to face the screen too. 

His hand felt hot and sweaty against her cool and dry one. But she didn't take her hand away, instead she squeezed them better together, not minding at all. Mike felt a smile tug at his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Here you go! Part one of Will's birthday. How soon do you want the second one? - preciousbean


	11. This time, we know we can all stand together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Here you go, soon like I promised! (Also, one chapter closer to the snow ball.) - preciousbean

**This time, we know we all can stand together**

 

"Goodnight, honey", Joyce kissed Eleven's cheek, after giving her a hug. Will had already been hugged and kissed, and was glad that the boys were brushing their teeth.

"Goodnight", Eleven said. She moved to give Jim a hug too, surprising the man. 

Jim, being the large man he was, leaned down to hug her back. He stroked her hair gently, before letting her go. 

"Goodnight", she whispered to him, smiling shyly.

"Sleep tight", the man murmured.

"Wake me to make breakfast", Eleven told him causing Jim to grin, and both Will and Joyce to chuckle.

"You sure? You can sleep till it's ready, it's fine", he suggested, despite feeling glad.

"No", she said sternly. "I want to help."

"As you wish, my princess", he said smirking, bowing his head.

"I'm a Jedi", she told the man softly.

"You can be both", Will offered. "Leia was both a Jedi and a princess, in the end."

"A Jedi princess, huh", Joyce laughed. "That's a good combination, I think."

Eleven beamed at her, and got pulled into another hug. "Yes."

 

The boys arranged themselves to the large bed in Joyce's room, all starting to get tired. 

It was fun, sleeping together, and telling each other stories in the dark. They just wished that Eleven could be there with them, too. 

"There's an El fitting place, here", Dustin said as he patted the bed. "It feels weird to have her sleep in the other room. She's one of us."

"I know", Lucas sighed, turning to Will. "You think your mom would be mad if we all slept here?"

"I don't know", Will shrugged. "But they were talking about how many could fit in here. And we have enough room, right?"

"Do you think she's asleep already?", Mike asked, to which the other boys didn't have time to answer. 

They heard the thunder. 

Will sat back up. "What if she's scared of the thunder?", he asked, looking at his friends in worry.

Dustin threw the covers aside, getting out of the bed. "Let's go get her."

 

Together they knocked on Will's door, who then slowly opened it. 

Eleven sat on the bed with Chewy by her side as a company. She turned to look at them, as she patted the dog. Then another lighting hit, sending a flash of light across the dark sky. And Eleven trembled when the low rumble reached them.

"You--, are you scared of the thunder, El?", Lucas asked slowly, glancing at Will.

"The thunder?", Eleven repeated, voice thin. Then another lightning and a loud rumble came, and she closed her eyes. "Yes", she whispered, understanding the connection between the word and the sound.

Mike went to the bedside, and gently took her hand before pulling her up. "Come sleep with us, El."

"We don't want you to be alone", Dustin added.

Eleven nodded and clutched Mike's hand in hers. He grabbed her pillow, which Will took, before taking her blanket with his free hand. Chewy followed them to the other bedroom, wagging his tail.

 

They all settled back to bed - Eleven in the middle, between Will and Mike. Dustin was on Mike's other side, and Lucas on Will's side of the bed. And they fit in just fine. All of them laid there, snuggled closely together.

"This is nice", Will said softly, causing the boys to chuckle. 

"Yeah", Lucas said. "All of us together, finally." And they knew, that he didn't mean just that moment.

"It's all fuzzy and warm", Dustin mumbled then, erupting another round of laughter.

Thunder hit again and despite feeling safe between the boys, Eleven trembled.

"It's okay to be scared, El", Mike told her, and she turned to look at him. Her eyes twinkled, wet from tears, but she offered him a small smile. He smiled back at her.

"Are you?", she whispered, searching his face for an answer.

"Well, no, not thunder", Mike furrowed his eyebrows. "But, you know, everyone's afraid of something."

"I'm scared of the dark", Will said softly, making Eleven turn her head to look at him.

Lucas turned to his side, propping his head up with a hand. "Yeah...I hate spiders."

Dustin laughed sleepily from the other side of the bed.

"It's not funny", Lucas told the boy.

"Dustin's afraid of water", Mike said. "Or sharks, however you want to put it."

"We don't even have sharks here!", Lucas said in a hushed whisper.

"You don't know what's in the water, if you can't see it", Dustin told him.

"Sharks don't live in lakes!"

Mike and Will both chuckled, putting a stop to the argument.

Eleven thought about what she had heard, before turning back to Mike. "What are you afraid?", she asked him in a whisper.

"I don't know", Mike said slowly. He hadn't really thought about it. He then felt Eleven's hand, searching for his own under the covers, and took it into his. 

"Everyone's afraid of something", Will said, "even if they don't realize it."

"How did Dustin realize, that he's afraid of sharks?", Lucas mumbled just loud enough for Will to hear, who turned to him with a wide grin.

Lowering his eyes from Eleven's face, because it was hard to concentrate under her intense stare, Mike thought about it. He felt her hand in his, and listened to the breathing of all of his friends in the same room. "Losing you, I guess. Anyone of you", he answered her question, feeling the warmth on his face immediately after the words came out of his mouth.

"Nope!", Dustin said, coming to hug him from behind, crushing the kids even closer together. "It's Will's birthday tomorrow, no time for sad stuff. We are happy", he said sternly, "that everyone's here."

Mike tried to squirm away from under his friend, effectively trapped between Dustin and Eleven. But after locking his eyes with hers again, he didn't mind anymore. Their hands were still clasped together between them, under the covers. Eleven's smile made his stomach flip.

Lucas laughed at his squeezed friends, before pulling Will away and closer to him. "We need to be careful", he said. "Of your wound."

"Yeah", Will smiled at him. "Thanks."

They slowly settled down, and chatted in hushed whispers for a while longer. 

Eleven learned that the thunder couldn't hurt her. And after a while, she couldn't even hear it anymore.

 

According to the clock on the bedside table, Joyce woke just before the alarm. She reached her hand to turn it off completely, before it even went on, and then turned around in the strong arms holding her.

Jim looked younger while asleep. Well, to her, he looked younger everyday. The stress and worry lines on his face had begun to fade, after he had started to get full nights sleep from spring onwards. After he had stayed more and more at her house.

He drank less, he was happier and more energetic. And Jim loved the change. And Joyce loved him.

She stroked his arm, and he murmured something she couldn't understand. Joyce leaned in for a quick kiss but the arms around her tightened, keeping her in her place.

"Good morning", she laughed, when he loosened his grip. 

"Morning to you, too", he murmured, keeping his eyes closed. "What time is it?"

"Nine", she stroked his stubble with a finger. 

"We should go", he opened his eyes slowly, before focusing on her face with a smile. "To wake them up, to make breakfast."

"Yeah", Joyce leaned in for another kiss, deeper this time. She couldn't wait to start every morning like this in their new house. Until Eleven's return Jim had gone between the two houses, sometimes staying in his and sometimes in hers.

Apparently, Jim was thinking about almost the same thing. 

"This is the last weekend here", he told her, while they were getting dressed.

"We need to start moving the stuff you want to keep to my house, and take away what I wont be saving", Joyce said, and he nodded. Then she looked at him. "You still have time to cancel, if you have second thoughts", she said softly.

Jim smirked, pulling her to him. "Never."

 

When they got home, Jonathan was already up and feeding the dog. He looked at them, eyes barely open. "Morning", he murmured.

"Morning, honey", Joyce kissed his cheek.

"You're making coffee?", Jim asked, immediately after he got to the kitchen.

"Of course", Jonathan said, pointing at the pan.

"Good", the man chuckled. "Everything went well?"

"Yeah, they calmed before midnight and are still sleeping."

"I'll go wake her", Joyce offered.

Jonathan raised his eyebrows, as his mother walked down the hallway.

"El wanted-, well, insisted helping with the breakfast", Jim grinned.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I can't help the ones with Byers genes, but I can make sure that at least El can make decent food."

"I can cook", Jonathan pointed out.

"Waffles."

"Food, too!"

Jim narrowed his eyes playfully. "Not so sure about that, kiddo. But when it's in the genes, I can't blame you."

 

Joyce opened the door to Will's room, to reveal an empty bed. She had time to panic for a full five seconds, before she realized that the covers and the pillow were gone too, not just the girl. She made her way to her own bedroom and opened the door slowly.

And there they were, each and every kid slumped into the same bed. She stood there for a while, just adoring the scene in front of her, before she sneaked back into the kitchen.

"Jonathan, get your camera", she whispered, shushing the two men as they tried to open their mouths, motioning for them to follow her.

They got back to the doorway, and chuckled softly at the sight. Jonathan took a few pictures, careful not to wake anyone and most importantly trying not to laugh.

Lucas and Will were sleeping soundly, back to back. Will had his arm draped over Eleven, his chin on her shoulder and the two basically sharing a pillow, the girl sleeping on her back. Dustin had kicked his blanket to the floor, apparently hogging Mike's afterwards. Which ended up with Mike crawling underneath Eleven's blanket, for warmth. She had her head turned to the boy, their foreheads almost pressed together because of the lack of space. 

"I don't want to wake her", Joyce whispered. "She looks so comfortable, so peaceful."

Jim sighed. "I promised her", he whispered back, before sneaking to the foot of the bed. "El, honey", he whispered, patting her leg.

Eleven opened her eyes, turning her head and gaze towards him. "Am I...in trouble?", she asked immediately after glancing all of them, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"No, no", Joyce whispered. "We promised to wake you up to make breakfast, that's all honey."

"You can continue sleeping if you want", Jim suggested, stroking her leg through the blanket from where he rested his hand.

"I want to help", Eleven whispered, and tried to get up. She then noticed the arm over her, and the hand in hers under the covers. She slowly let go of Mike's hand, careful not to wake him. Then she looked at Will's arm, levitated it up and crawled from under it before lowering it gently back down.

Jim lifted her over the board of the bed with an easy movement, letting her down to the floor before they left the room, and closed the door behind them.

"Why did you think you were in trouble, honey?", Joyce asked, when they made their way to the kitchen, pulling Eleven to her side.

Eleven looked up at her. "I didn't sleep in Will's room", she said in a small voice.

"We thought you'd be more comfortable in there, than with all of you in the same bed", Joyce told her. "But did you sleep well?"

"Yes", Eleven nodded. Then she leaned her head against the woman. "There was thunder."

"We heard", Jim said, pouring cups of the now ready coffee for him and Joyce. "That was quite a storm."

Eleven scratched Chewy's head, who had come to her, wagging his tail happily. "I was scared", she said softly.

"Oh honey", Joyce looked immediately worried. "We didn't know. We wouldn't have left, if we did", she said, stroking her hair. "You could've called us. Or asked Will or Jonathan to call."

"I was okay", Eleven said. Then she moved on, looking at Jim. "Going to make breakfast?"

"Sure", the man smirked. "We're making chocolate chip waffles, they're Will's favorite", he told her, automatically lifting her to sit on the counter. It had become their thing, making breakfast together every morning.

"Waffles?", she asked. "Something like eggos?"

Jim nodded. "But we're making these from scratch", he said. "And they're going to be the best damn waffles you've ever eaten."

Joyce sat down, looking at them with a wide smile plastered on her face. 

With Jim's advice, Eleven made almost the whole thing by herself. She was a bit scared of the waffle iron, how hot it was, and Jim gladly took over at that point. But she sat there, watching closely.

After the fifth round, Eleven started floating the pairs of waffles from the iron, to the large plate where they stacked them. Jonathan even got a proof of it: a photo with the proud smile Jim had, the floating waffles, and her beaming face.

Joyce got the dining table ready, getting enough chairs from around the house for everyone. She and Jonathan decided to keep on with their tradition and stack the birthday presents on the living room table for Will to open after breakfast.

 

They heard laughter down the hall, and soon the boys all came to the kitchen.

Eleven smiled from her spot on the counter, and then let out soft hum, when she saw Will and Mike. Both had their hair sticking to every possible direction. Lucas' hair was so short and Dustin's so curly, that they didn't look bad even if tousled up.

Will smiled at her. "Yours isn't much better", he commented, motioning to her hair. 

Eleven lifted her hands, to touch her hair, her eyes wide from confusion. 

The three of them went to stand in front of the hallway mirror, and yes, even she admitted that her hair was a mess. 

"Not as bad as yours", Eleven said at a slow pace, choosing her words carefully after comparing their hairs. 

Mike laughed at Will, who had a defeated smile on his face. The girl then tried to tame her hair, without much of a success. 

"I told you", Mike said, trying to flatten up his hair at the same time. "You have the worst bed head possible."

"Like she would say anything bad about you", Will whispered to him, after Eleven had disappeared to Joyce's bedroom. 

"What do you mean?", Mike said, although his cheeks had a pink tint on them.

"El--", Will begun, but the said girl chose that moment to return, with her hands behind her back.

"Me?", she asked, looking at both boys.

"Nothing", they said in unison, before returning to the kitchen.

Eleven followed them, sneaking the present from behind her back to the living room table among the others, blindly floating it there.

 

"So, you want to open your presents first, or eat breakfast?", Joyce asked, after hugging her son and everyone congratulating him.

"Umm...", Will thought, glancing at the waffles. "Breakfast first", he said with a bright smile plastered on his face.

"Good choice", Dustin agreed, earning a slap to his arm from Lucas. "What? It's morning. We're all hungry", he defended himself, before slapping his friend in return.

 

They all sat at the table and the boys filled their plates fast, with waffles covered in chocolate sauce and pieces of fruits on the side. 

Jim waited for the boys to start eating, and then looked at their delighted faces with a smug smirk. He shared a look with Eleven, who was also eating her waffles with appetite. She smiled at him. 

"El", Will spoke from his place at the other head of the table. "You made these?", he asked, pointing at the waffles. The boys slowed down, looking at their friends.

Eleven's eyebrows furrowed. "Are they wrong?"

"They're delicious", Will laughed, gaining a shy smile from the girl.

"How did you know, kiddo?", Jim chuckled, his face showing his surprise.

"Jonathan doesn't put this much chocolate chips in them", Will grinned at the man, then at his brother. "But they're good, too, don't get me wrong", he hurried to add.

"I don't mind, these are better than mine", Jonathan chuckled, cutting his waffles and making everyone laugh.

 

After breakfast, they gathered into the living room. 

Will started with the first box, which was from Jonathan. He opened it to reveal a card, which had a promise to take him to any movie he wanted to go, and a mixtape.

"It has all your favorites, from summer onwards", Jonathan told him. He had made the last one for him in spring.

Will went to give his brother a hug. "Thank you", he told him. "I like it."

"Good", Jonathan said, ruffling Will's hair.

The next was from his mother. He opened the paper carefully, and looked wide eyed at the box. "You got me a new supercom?", he asked in awe, before he went to hug his mother. "Thank you."

That was when Eleven remembered the device. 

She had carried it in her jacket's pockets, which were large enough to actually fit it. It must've dropped somewhere before she came back. Well, she hadn't brought it back with her, that's all she knew. She felt bad for loosing it, and even worse for forgetting the whole thing.

From the next present, Will got a new sketch book and a large scale of color pencils from Jim, who he tanked with a hug, too. Actually, with the first real hug they had shared until that moment.

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas had combined forces, like the boys usually did, and got him a box filled with a little bit of everything. There were a few figures, a couple of booster packs of Magic cards, and some of his favorite sweets. And also a separate tube with a large poster of the _Ghost busters_ movie, which the boys had apparently got free from the movie theater after asking really nicely.

"Wow", Will breathed out, smiling at his friends. They sat with him on the sofa, so a group hug wasn't hard enough to do there. They squeezed Will in the between of them, careful not to be too rough. "Thanks, guys."

Then, there were only a brown packet left, with a yellow ribbon on it. Will took it in his hands, and immediately looked at Eleven. She looked between him and the present, unsure of his reaction. 

But when he opened it, all the boys shared his amazed reaction. 

"You knew", Will laughed, looking at the girl. Then he looked at the box again. "It has all the four of them."

"Who you gonna call?", Lucas begun singing, and the boys joined him, shouting "ghost busters" together, before laughter filled the room.

"I just realized, these guys are like us", Dustin commented after they all had calmed down, taking a better look at the four figures.

"That's why I like it so much", Will laughed. Then he got up from the couch, coming to Eleven who had been sitting in the armchair. He opened his arms, suddenly feeling shy. "Can I have a hug?", he asked softly. And Eleven stood up to hug him. 

"Thank you", he said, smiling softly as she hugged him gently, trying not to squeeze too much.

"You're happy?", she confirmed. 

Will laughed against her ear. "Yes, I'm happy."

 

Eleven decided, that she liked birthdays. She didn't even imagine what her birthday could be like, she liked this one enough already. 

She liked being together with everyone, laughing, hugging and eating cake. 

And yes, she liked cake.

 

Because it hadn't snowed yet, Eleven had learned to ride a bike. Will had told her, that it was basically the only way to get around town, as they were too young to drive. And they had an extra bike, which Jonathan had used at some point, so she had given it a go. It had been quite easy after all.

On Monday, Eleven excused herself in the middle of the day, when Karen went to take Holly for a nap. Will was studying so hard, that he didn't even notice she left the house. 

There was something that she needed to do.

 

Eleven had seen the place, while passing it by car a few times. And she had seen it before, too. 

She could find it on her own, she knew it. And she needed to do this alone.

 

It was cold as she walked along the straight path, looking around. Grey stones surrounded her, each of them almost identical. It wasn't as bad as in there, in the upside down. Nothing was as bad as in there.

Eleven had to use her powers to know where she was going, so she stopped, closing her eyes for a moment.

She then continued her way, easily guiding herself trough the graveyard, before stopping in front of one of the stones.

She reached out her hand, touching the stone before her, closing her eyes for a moment. 

It was hard. Like something tried to squeeze her from the inside, making it harder to breath.

Swallowing, the girl opened her eyes, to read the words on the stone.

 

_Barbara Holland._

_A daughter, a sister, a friend._

_"I exist in two places,  
Here and where you are."_

 

A single tear escaped her eye, as Eleven breathed out hard.

"I'm sorry", she whispered, wiping her cheek with a mitten. She glanced at the withered flowers, placed before the stone. She had nothing to leave there. "I'll come again." 

With a deep breath she closed her eyes again, using her powers and fighting against the tears.

 

"Benny", Eleven whispered, as she crouched down. Her legs felt weak.

It was a simpler stone this time, with only a name and the dates on it. She wiped leaves off from the top of it, trying to get them all, as her eyes burned. 

"I'm sorry."


	12. Manic Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. THANK YOU! For your comments, kudos, hits, support(!!) - preciousbean

**Manic Monday**

 

Weeks went by fast.

Will got checked again at the laboratory, after the wound had fully healed. He had gotten rid of every single snail, and was feeling better than what he had been during the past year. 

But the visit didn't go without any harm. 

After hearing about Will having to go back there, even though it would hopefully be the last time, it brought back bad memories for Eleven. She suffered from nightmares for almost two whole weeks, tossing and turning, usually crying, and sometimes even screaming in her sleep. 

Joyce hadn't made her the bed on the couch anymore. 

 

On the first week of December Will was ready to return to school. Well, not like he minded staying home with Eleven, he had to go back.

So, the two of them left home together every morning, and made their way to the Wheeler house. Will continued his way to school together with the boys, while Eleven stayed with Karen and Holly.

 

Karen Wheeler had adopted the girl in her heart, on the very first day she had met her. 

Eleven was polite and clever. She liked to take care of Holly and play with her, and she helped with what ever she could. Even if it meant that Karen had to tell her how to do some things, and it took more time than usually, she loved it. 

The girl had covered the books until middle school now, not perfectly but well enough. It seemed that Eleven knew some of the things already. It was more like they came back to her, instead of her learning them for the first time. But from now on, it would get harder. 

Eleven didn't speak perfect sentences, or write well for her age, but not Karen, nor the other adults expected that of her. Their goal was to get the girl school-ready for the next fall, which she definitely could do.

 

And after every day, Karen thanked the power that controlled the world for giving Eleven the chance to come back. Because not just the girl had returned, but Karen had also got her son back, after a year of him being a mere ghost of himself. 

Michael was a complete person once again, and without the girl in their lives, Karen knew they could have lost him forever.

 

Eleven got to the Wheeler house on her own, for the first time. Will had left a little earlier than usual, rambling on something about a presentation at breakfast. So, Eleven had hopped on her bike a little after him, not rushing it.

She opened the front door, being told that she could come inside on her own, and was immediately welcomed by a screaming Holly. The girl laid on the floor, in the middle of the front hall, crying to the carpet. 

Karen stood next to her, looking down at her tantrum throwing toddler with tired amusement.

"Good morning", Eleven said, just loud enough to be heard.

Karen smiled, looking exhausted. "Morning, honey. We're having a bad day here", she said, gesturing to Holly with a sigh.

Eleven got to the floor on her knees, looking at Holly in wonder.

"Are you hurt?", she asked the girl softly.

"Nooooo", Holly cried, kicking the floor.

"Are you sad?"

"No!"

"Then why are you crying?", Eleven asked, causing the girl to calm down in confusion.

"I want to go out", Holly said, before kicking the floor once again.

"Like I have told you, Holly, if you put on your jacket, we can go", Karen said sternly.

"No!", Holly said strongly, sitting up.

"You want me to put it on for you?", Karen asked then, to which the toddler shook her head.

"No!"

"Can I help you, Holly?", Eleven asked. 

Holly pouted for a while, before moving to sit on Eleven's knees.

Karen covered her mouth with a hand, knowing better than to laugh in front of her daughter at times like these. She tried to hand Holly's jacket to Eleven, but the toddler didn't want her to.

"Not mom!", Holly said, pouting.

"Fine", Karen said, putting the jacket back, too tired to even try anymore. 

Holly had a stronger temper, than her first two children had had at the same age. Combined. It was exhausting, sometimes. And her personality had begun to form remarkably during the past year, taking the whole family off guard.

"Not so rude", Eleven told the girl, her eyebrows knit together. "You want out?"

Holly nodded, not moving from her lap. So Eleven floated the jacket over, causing Holly to giggle in awe. She gave the jacket to the toddler, letting her put it on herself. Then she turned to look at Karen, who mouthed a 'thank you' with a soft smile on her face. Eleven smiled back at her.

 

They were going through the house, to grab the keys from the kitchen and snacks for the girls, when Karen noticed the brown bag on the counter.

"Michael forgot his lunch", she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"How?", Eleven asked. Food was one of the things she thought about several times a day.

"The whole morning was a chaos", Karen said, staring at the bag with a frown. "Holly here didn't act like a good girl, Michael was late and stressed about the presentation, Nancy refused to take him by car with her, and Ted simply wasn't helpful at all." 

Then Karen looked down at Eleven, who stared back at her with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry, honey, I shouldn't complain to you."

"Can I take Mike's lunch?", Eleven suggested softly.

"We can take it together. He doesn't even have any money with him, so he really needs this", Karen said while eyeing the clock, as Eleven took the bag. "We can drive there, and you can go take it to him, how does that sound?"

"Good", the girl beamed at the idea, as Holly came to take her hand.

"They will have a break in half an hour, he should be out then. We can go there to wait."

 

"You could go ask Nancy for a couple bucks?", Will suggested, as they were walking towards the back doors to go outside for fresh air. 

"You didn't see her this morning", Mike shuddered. "That girl is a monster."

"Maybe it's that time of the month?", Dustin suggested, making Mike's face scrunch up.

"Don't say that", he pleaded.

Lucas shook his head. "Yeah, please. Girls don't talk about our problems like that, either."

"What problems?", Will asked, glancing at his friends with curiosity. Dustin and Mike ignored him, so he turned to Lucas for explanation.

"If you don't know, I'm not telling you", Lucas said, making Will frown in thought.

"But yeah, what are you going to do? Won't you be hungry?", Dustin asked.

Mike shrugged, opening the door to the crispy December air. "I don't know."

"Hey", Lucas said, pointing to the side of the yard. "Isn't that El?"

They turned to the way Lucas pointed, all of them narrowing their eyes. 

And it was. Eleven stood there, other hand in her brown jackets pocket, the other holding onto something. And she was being surrounded by Troy and his gang.

 

"You've got some nerve to come here", Troy said.

"Why?", Eleven asked calmly, tilting her head a little. 

Troy's fists tensed. "For what you did to me", he spat.

"Breaking your arm?", she confirmed. "You pissing yourself?"

"Hah!", someone laughed, a girl. "She made you piss yourself, Troy, oh my."

"Shut up!", Troy turned around to shout at her, which made the girl in question chuckle.

The boys got to Eleven and she turned to them, face immediately breaking into a smile. Then she smiled even brighter to Mike, who was by her side, checking her for injuries, tears, blood... Anything. 

"I brought your lunch", Eleven said, lifting up the bag in her hand, offering it to him.

"Oh", Mike blushed, taking the bag with a shy smile. "Thanks, El."

"Savior of the day", Dustin said, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders, before turning to Troy. "Didn't you have enough already? Of getting beaten up by a girl?", he asked, grinning.

Max laughed, and the boys realized that it had been her earlier, too. 

"Quiet, toothless", Troy growled.

"Who are you to say?", Eleven asked slowly, staring at Troy with calculating eyes. She looked so pretty but intimidating, that Mike couldn't tear his eyes away from her. "Damp-pants?"

The boys weren't sure if they should laugh or cry, because soon she would have to go and they'd be left on their own, but the name was simply too good. 

So they laughed. 

"Damp-pants!", Lucas cracked up, smacking his hand together with Dustin's, who hollered with laughter. 

Will looked proudly at the girl he got to call his sister, a smirk plastered on his face, and Mike...he felt like the luckiest boy on the planet, standing next to Eleven. He grinned widely, enjoying the moment.

"Oh my god!", Max laughed, looking at Eleven with interest. 

Eleven glanced at her, but soon looked back to Troy.

"You're a freak", Troy spat. "That's all you are. You, toothless, frog face, midnight, and the fairy. All of you."

"Really?", Eleven asked, trying to keep her voice down. "You are idiot then", she said, hands slightly shaking of anger, "saying that to me."

"Watch what you say..!", James started, but got interrupted by Troy himself.

"What are you going to do? Because I went to the police the last time. I will go and report you again, if I need to", the boy said, his voice carrying confidence.

Eleven stared at him, breathing out slowly and taking Mike's hand in hers. She wanted away before she would loose her control, and begun pulling the boy with her. 

She didn't want to hurt her friends.

"The chief's her dad", Will spoke up, before he followed Eleven and Mike, who had begun to walk away.

"So basically, you're digging your own grave there", Dustin told Troy, as he and Lucas left, too.

They heard Troy's cursing, and Max's increasing laughter.

"Hey, the 'freak' girl!", she shouted after them. "I like you!"

Eleven simply shook her head, pulling the boys further away. "Sorry", she said, after they stopped a little before the doors.

"Don't be, El", Mike assured her, squeezing her hand. "You were amazing."

"I can't control myself", she said slowly, eyeing the boys. "Almost did something...bad."

"You should've!", Dustin said. "But that was cool enough", he continued, grinning widely.

"Definitely cool", Lucas laughed. "Damp-pants", he chuckled then, making the rest of the boys laugh, too.

"Yeah, El. It's fine, really", Will said, smiling to her. "He called us names, we all got angry."

Eleven looked at him for a while. _What did he call you?_ , she asked then, pushing the thought to Will. _Was it bad? Fairy?_

Will nodded to her, without anyone noticing. He looked alarmed, confused by hearing her like that, in his head.

 _Will you tell me? At home?_ , she asked, and after Will nodded to her again she turned away.

"I have to go", Eleven said, eyeing the boys. "Going to park, with Holly and your mother", she told Mike, with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah?", Mike chuckled. He squeezed her hand a little, not wanting to let go so soon. 

"Yes. I'll make mud cakes, while you study", she said, eyes twinkling with laughter.

The boys laughed, telling her to have fun as they started moving back inside and away from Troy's eyes. 

Mike walked slower towards the doors, Eleven by his side. 

"I'm glad you came", Mike told her, lifting up the bag with a wide smile. "A real lifesaver."

"I put something there", Eleven confessed, smiling at the ground.

"You did?", Mike laughed, eyeing her with amusement.

Eleven looked at him with a shy smile. "Happy school day, Mike", she said, before letting go of his hand at the door, and starting to back up towards the parking lot.

"See you at home?", he asked, and she nodded.

"See you."

 

Mike opened the bag at lunch, and grinned at the chocolates she had put in there. He was sure his mother had stuffed some of them already on the top-shelve in the kitchen, ready for the holidays. 

There was a note too, saying: _1 for them. Rest for you - 11_

He threw the extra chocolates at his friends, happily eating the rest himself.

 

Eleven knocked on Will's open door, after she had taken a shower and put her pajama on. 

"Yeah?", Will said and she went in, closing the door behind her. He was on his bed, sketching something, as she came to sat down next to him.

"Tell me?", she asked softly.

After a few silent seconds Will nodded, closing the sketchbook and laying it on his lap. 

"What does it mean?", she asked, her voice only a whisper. "Fairy?"

He swallowed, keeping his eyes cast away from her. "It's what they call me", he whispered back, "because of what I look like, and who I am."

"Pretty?", Eleven asked, offering the word to him so casually, that he wasn't sure if it was just her that thought so about him.

Will blushed slightly, looking at his feet. "El, boys aren't supposed to be pretty. They are supposed to be handsome", he murmured in his soft voice.

"But you are", she told him strongly. "Pretty or..handsome. There's no difference."

Her words just were so sincere, that they made him feel better.

"Thanks", Will chuckled softly, turning to look at her. "It's just..you know what fairies are, right?"

Eleven nodded. "Tinker Bell", she told him. She had just finished reading Peter Pan with Holly.

"Yeah, right", Will sighed. "And if you say to a boy, that he's a fairy, it's not a good thing."

She knew that wasn't everything. "Tell me", she suggested softly.

"I don't know how to explain it", Will said softly. 

"Try", she whispered. "I try to understand."

"Uhh..", he fiddled with his hands. "Well...You know the way you like Mike?"

"Yes", she nodded. She didn't understand the connection between the two things, though.

"Well, some people think that's the only right way, for only boys and girls to like each other", Will told her. "But, some people like the same sex. Boys like boys, or girls like girls."

Eleven felt like she had heard the same thing before, this part of their conversation. 

"Lucas", she said then, startling Will.

"H-h-huh?", he stammered, "how did you-, how?"

And then Eleven actually understood the whole situation. _They call you fairy because you're pretty, and you like Lucas?_ , she pushed the thought to him, not sure if she could get it out of her mouth sounding the same.

Will was bright red. _They don't know about him_ , bounced into Eleven's mind, a little before he said the same thing out loud: "They don't know about him, about Lucas I mean. About me liking him."

Eleven stared at him, her brown eyes wide. "You did that..on purpose?", she asked slowly.

"What?", Will asked, suddenly feeling confused. "Did what?"

"You said that", she lifted a finger, pointing at her head, "in here."

There was a long silence, during which Eleven didn't lower her hand and Will didn't do anything besides stare at her.

"I-, I spoke", he stammered, "in your mind? Is...is that what you mean?"

She nodded, her eyes wide.

And they tried to do it again. They didn't succeed, no matter how many times they tried. Still, they both knew that they were close. They just needed to try it a couple of times more.

 

"But Will", Eleven said. 

She stood in the doorway, after the third time that Joyce had told them to get to bed. 

"I think it's...nice", she told the boy slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Who you are. Friends don't lie."

Will couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. "I'm glad you're here", he said softly, "and to have you as a sister. Not only as a friend."

"Yes", Eleven smiled. "You too. As a brother."

 

After Joyce had made sure that Will and Eleven were both in their respectful beds, no matter how cute they were, she returned to the living room.

Jim pulled her to his side, and she sighed. "They're so cute... Sometimes, I would just like to let them sleep in the same room, just to see how long they'd talk", Joyce said softly. 

"They would talk well into the morning", Jim murmured, kissing her hair. 

"I'm sure of it", she smiled. "And I like having her close to us, but it feels unfair of not having a space only for her."

"Soon there will be", he reminded her. "I paid extra to get the house ready a bit sooner. The guys are working their asses off."

"How long until it's ready?", she asked while looking at the living room, which had boxes here and there, with some extra furniture, too. Everything, that Jim had saved from his house.

"They're almost done with the building part. I actually dropped by today, after work. They told me that electricity will take the longest, a few weeks maybe. After that they'll do the floors, walls, and the rest."

"After Valentine's?", she sounded hopeful.

"Maybe even in late January", Jim murmured, resting his head on hers.

"New year and a new house." 

"I know."

Joyce then turned her head, to look up at him. "Have you heard from them? The one's who are dealing with her papers?"

"No", Jim shook his head with a frown. "We still need to ask El what she wants."

"Does anyone have her original birth certificate?"

"Remember what Becky said, that it was a miscarriage on third trimester? There are no papers, nothing at all. It was planned, the whole thing."

"So, nothing?", she whispered. 

"Well, according to Becky, she was born in 1971, in early July. Which means that she's thirteen now, like the boys", Jim begun. "Her name would've been Jane Ives. If it's her, that is. The same girl that Terry Ives reported being taken from her."

"This is crazy", Joyce muttered under her breath.

"But after I finally get in touch with the right people, they will make her a new birth certificate. Which means that they can put us straight as her legal guardians. Formally adopting her would be a longer process", Jim sighed.

"Why?"

"Because first, they don't know her birth father, and second, we'd need his permission into adopting her. Or what if Becky would want to keep her? Then what."

"I haven't even thought about that", Joyce whispered, closing her eyes. "Her father most likely doesn't even know about her, right?", she asked softly.

"Yeah", Jim murmured. "I think so. At least Becky hasn't said anything about him. Or anything about wanting to have her, either." Then he sighed deeply. "I'll call again tomorrow, I'm tired of just waiting around."

"I think we all are", Joyce whispered. 

She cuddled closer to him, and Jim tightened his hold around her.

 

Jim woke to a cry in the middle of the night, and turned around. His heart pounded in his chest and it didn't calm down, even though he knew that there was no reason to panic.

Joyce was already comforting Eleven, arms around the girl who hid against her chest.

"Shh..", Joyce shushed, stroking the girl's hair. "I'm here with you, we're here.."

"It's alright, honey", Jim murmured before stroking the small back before him. He didn't want to startle her with his sudden touch.

These moments the three shared, in the middle of the night... They hurt him. And they hurt Joyce, too. 

The girl they had grown to love so deeply... she was scarred and terrified. The nightmares she suffered from returned, again and again, no matter what they did. 

"Mom?", the door creaked a little, as Will peeked into the room.

"Everything's fine, sweetie, you can go back to bed", Joyce hushed her son, offering him an encouraging smile.

But Will didn't leave, instead glanced at Eleven with worry. 

Her cries were now soft sobs, her breathing sounding louder than the whimpers escaping her throat. 

"Get some sleep, kiddo", Jim murmured to the boy. "You have school tomorrow."

"Can I...", Will hesitated, glancing at the hallway behind him. "C-can I sleep with you, too? Just tonight", he asked softly, his voice trembling.

Both Joyce and Jim then noticed the scared expression he had, as they had been there for his nightmares. 

"Of course, sweetie", Joyce got out, while Jim made room for him to get into the bed, too.

Will settled down, between Jim and Eleven, watching how his mother comforted the girl with a tight embrace.

"If Jon tries to get in", Jim muttered with a grin, using the nickname he had come up with, "I'm moving to the couch." 

"I had a nightmare", Will said softly, feeling the need to explain.

"I know", Jim told him, tucking the boy in better. "I was trying to lighten up the mood."

"Oh."

Joyce smiled at them, placing a kiss on Eleven's head.

 

Even though their family hadn't formed in the most common way, or under any normal circumstances, they were happy. And even though each of them had their monsters and nightmares, sometimes keeping them up at night, they were happy. 

They were together, and it made everything a lot better.


	13. That's the look

**That's the look**

 

"You still haven't asked El to the snow ball?", Nancy asked over breakfast, her eyes wide. "It's a few weeks away, Mike."

Said boy dropped his head to his hands, groaning. "I know, shut up.."

"Just ask her, honey", his mother told him softly.

"Buy her a little present or something", his father added absently, while reading the newspaper. "Girls like that, jewelry and all."

"El's not like that, dad", Nancy reminded, not just him but also Mike. "Besides, that's too expensive."

"I think", Karen started, gaining the attention of her son, "that you could get her something small, like a flower."

Mike lifted his face from his hands, and gave a little nod. It actually sounded like a good idea.

"What's her favorite color?", Nancy asked, despite knowing it herself.

"Pink", Mike shrugged, continuing his breakfast.

"Really?", Karen commented, smiling softly. "How lovely."

"Then get her a flower after school, and when you get home just ask her", Nancy suggested.

"Yeah", Mike stirred his cereal. He had a shy smile on his face already.

 

"The snow ball's in two weeks", Dustin groaned on their recess, after seeing another poster of it.

"I'm going to ask El today", Mike told the boys.

Will grinned. "Yeah? How?"

Mike shrugged, kicking a rock on the ground and mumbling something.

"What?", Lucas asked, coming closer.

"--getting a flower, after school..", Mike mumbled a little louder, his cheeks red.

Dustin laughed, making his friend's face even redder. 

"What? Well, tell me!", Mike huffed, embarrassed. "How would you do it?"

"Some present, I don't know", Dustin thought about it. "I'd probably take her out first or something."

"But El's not like that", Mike's eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm not talking about asking her, am I?", Dustin laughed.

"Thank god, you're not.."

"I think she would like that", Will offered, smiling when Mike turned to him. "The flower."

"Yeah?", his friend smiled shyly. "You sure?"

"I am", Will laughed. "She likes everything that has flowers on them, why not a real one."

"Who are you going with?", Mike asked his friends then, wanting to escape the squirmy feeling that tried to settle inside him.

No one noticed the way Lucas glanced at Will, before all three of his friends shrugged.

"None of you has a date?", he asked with wide eyes.

"You don't have, either", Lucas commented. "Not yet."

"We made a promise, before", Mike kicked another rock. "To go together."

Will eyed him for a moment, before he turned to Lucas and Dustin.

"Why don't we just go together? All of us?", he asked. "Like, you and El can go together but we'll hang out, the five of us", Will explained to Mike.

"That would be fun", Lucas commented.

"Yeah", Mike smiled.

"It's a date then", Dustin laughed. "But", he started, turning to Mike, "I want one dance with the lady."

"No", Mike said fast, before blushing. "I mean, you can ask her, I don't know. Besides, she probably doesn't know how to dance."

"We have two weeks man, two weeks", Lucas sniggered, patting his friends back. "Plenty of time to learn."

 

After school, the boys biked together to the flower shop. Mike had thought about going alone, but his trembling hands had told his friends more than words ever could. 

The woman behind the desk smiled good heartedly at the sight of the four of them, trying to choose the best one among the pink flowers.

"You don't know anything", Lucas huffed. "A rose would be the best."

"Does it matter what kind of flower it is?", Dustin asked, looking at the wide range of them.

"I don't know", Mike muttered, suddenly getting very nervous. "But I like the rose, too, I guess.."

"Are you boys trying to choose one for your girls?", the florist asked, coming towards the boys in the otherwise empty shop.

"Just for one girl", Lucas said.

"My sister", Will added shyly, getting a warm smile from the woman in return.

"What age is she?", she asked, glancing at the flowers.

"Twelve", the boys answered in unison.

"Oh my", she laughed, before winking at Will. "She must be pretty, then, for all of you to come here for a flower."

"Yeah, she is", Will nodded, as Mike stuttered something while turning away.

"What's the occasion?"

"Asking her to the snow ball", Lucas offered. Mike had gone to look at cactuses with a red face.

"Aww", the woman cooed. "Well then, I think you could go with any one of these. But", she pointed at the roses, "these are simply classics. You can show how you feel with roses and their colors. Also, almost everyone likes them."

"We were thinking about a pink one", Dustin told the woman. "She likes pink."

"Pink roses have different meanings" , the florist told them. "Grace, elegance, yet sweetness, too."

Dustin and Lucas grinned, while Will glanced at Mike, who still had his back turned to them.

"But the one I think you should go with", the woman picked out a lighter pink rose, "is this one. It also means admiration, gratitude... And first love", she added, glancing at the only boy who had turned away from the flowers, but who was still listening to her with a blush on his face.

Dustin beamed, and Lucas slapped Mike's back gently, grinning widely.

"I think we'll go with that", Will smiled. "Right?", he turned to Mike.

"Yeah", Mike nodded, biting his lip.

 

Mike left his bike in the garage and stood there behind the door and in the cold for a while, simply mustering his courage.

He sighed deeply, wondering what he was that nervous about and went in. He saw his mother immediately, who saw the flower and pointed the living room for him, with an encouraging smile on her face. 

After taking off his jacket he made his way into the living room, keeping the rose behind his back. 

Eleven immediately lifted her eyes to meet his from where she sat on the floor with Holly on her lap, reading a book together.

Mike pointed with his free hand to upstairs, too shy to ask her with his mother in the hearing range.

"Holly", Eleven said in a soft voice, "I will finish this later, okay?"

"Today?", Holly confirmed.

"Yes", Eleven smiled at her, before lifting her up. She got up from the floor too and went to Mike, who stood by the stairs.

"Y-you first", Mike stammered and Eleven complied. She wasn't sure why he was being weird.

Eleven went straight to his room and turned around, just as Mike brought the rose from behind his back.

"I--", he started, blushing furiously. "I wanted to ask you, if you'd still like to, you know, to go to the snow ball...", Mike glanced at the rose, before taking a step forward and offering it to Eleven, "with me?"

She took the rose in her hand, eyebrows high. "Really?", she whispered. "We can still go?"

"Y-yeah?"

"But I broke the promise", she said in a small voice. "Last year... I didn't come."

"We can go this year", Mike hurried to tell her. "And the next and to all of them, if you want", he said, nervously taking her free hand into his trembling one.

Eleven stopped their staring contest, by lowering her gaze to the rose in her hand. She brought it to her face, to smell it, before twirling it in her fingers. 

"It's pretty", Eleven said softly, looking up to him. "And yes." 

"Yes?", he swallowed.

"I want to go."

"Really?", Mike breathed out.

"Really", she assured him.

"Good", he sighed, before grinning.

They stood there for a while, just looking at each other. He stroked her hand with his thumb, sending little lightning bolts into both of them. 

She could see the freckles on his face, which she thought were cute on him. And he saw how long her eyelashes were, and the way they curled. 

Mike was sure that he heard her heartbeat. Or maybe it was his. Actually, he wasn't so sure anymore. 

He was starting to lean in, to get even closer to her--.

"El!", Holly shouted, and banged the door to Mike's room open. 

Mike turned around in a split second, face turning bright red. Eleven looked at the girl in the doorway, blinking a few times.

"Holly?", she asked softly.

The toddler stood there, looking at them, before she noticed the rose.

"A flower?", she asked excitedly, coming closer to them.

"Holly, get out!", Mike groaned, but Eleven showed the flower to Holly.

"Pretty, right?", she asked the girl, who nodded. Then Eleven looked at her, face soft but serious. "I will come, soon."

"Okay", Holly nodded, before glaring at her brother. Then she left the room, bouncing back downstairs.

Mike turned back to Eleven. "Sorry", he started, but the girl simply stared at him.

"About what?", she asked.

"For getting...interrupted", he mumbled shyly.

"What were we doing?", she asked him slowly. "To get interrupted?"

"I wanted to, I-I don't know, kiss you?", he stammered.

"Kiss?", she asked, watching him blush.

"You know", he murmured, biting his lip. "Like that time...?", he trailed off, glancing at their joined hands.

"In the cafeteria?", Eleven confirmed, and Mike nodded.

"Y-yeah."

"That's a kiss?"

"Hm-m", Mike nodded, swallowing nervously.

And Eleven smiled a little. She finally had a name for it, for what Joyce did to her cheeks and forehead, and what Mike had done a year ago to her lips.

Then she took a step towards him, closing the distance between them, tipping the flower to her side. 

He stared down at her, into her brown eyes, wondering what to do next. But she beat him to it. 

Eleven rose to her toes, bringing herself almost to the same eye level with him. Then she placed her lips on his, softly, making him close his eyes because of the feeling. It didn't last long, but when she pulled away Mike opened his eyes feeling dizzy.

"Mike?", she whispered, and he found himself staring at her lips.

He lifted his gaze to her eyes. "Pretty", he said after a long silence, and blushed right after.

"Pretty good?", she smiled, making him nod.

Then she left the room with the rose in her hand, to go back downstairs before Holly would rush back to them.

Mike felt like his legs would give in under him. He fell on his bed, with a goofy smile on his face. He brought a pillow to cover it, chuckling against it. 

He bet he looked like an idiot at the moment.

 

When Eleven got home before dinner, Will was finishing his homework at the kitchen table. He immediately saw the rose on her hand and smiled widely.

"He asked you, right?", he confirmed.

"Yes", Eleven nodded, a small smile gracing her face.

Jim watched them with narrowed eyes. "Who got you a rose, honey?"

"Mike", she answered, putting away her things. "Asked me to the snow ball."

"Snow ball", Jim exhaled, relaxing immediately.

"Snow ball?", Joyce came from the kitchen. "You need a dress, and shoes, and--". Then she turned to Will, who sat innocently at the table. "You too, Will."

"Huh?", he asked, turning to look at his mother.

"We're getting you a new tux", she said. "You're going too, right?"

Will shrugged. "With Dustin and Lucas, yeah."

"Good", Joyce smiled.

"I have dresses?", Eleven asked then, confused.

"You need a different kind of dress for the ball", Joyce told her. "But we'll get you one, don't worry. Did you already talk about it, if you're wearing the same colors? Like a dress and a tie, or something?"

Eleven had no idea what a tie was, but she shook her head.

"Then, I think, that you need to talk to him about it", Joyce smiled at her. "It's a habit, that pairs usually match their outfits."

"What color would you like, El?", Will asked.

She immediately knew the answer. "Blue."

He grinned.

"Agree on the details before Saturday", Jim told them. He and Eleven had agreed on going to visit her mothers grave, and now the whole family was going together. "The city has more shops, than what we have in here."

 

While Eleven was helping Joyce with the dishes, Will took out his new supercom, which could reach each and every boys house. 

"Mike?", he said and waited, before repeating it after a while, packing his backpack in the between.

" _Will?_ "

"Yeah, it's me", he started. "I just wanted to congratulate you. Over."

" _Thanks...Was she happy? Over._ " He could hear the smile on Mike's face.

"Yeah", Will chuckled. "Mom told her about the color matching thing. Over."

" _She did? I thought I'd get the chance to talk to her about the ball, like after school tomorrow, or something...Over._ "

"You're safe. She said she wants blue. Over."

There was a long pause, before Mike answered, his voice cheerful. " _Really? She did?...Oh, over._ "

"I'm going to get Dustin and Lucas in blue, too. Over." Will laughed while waiting for his response.

" _Why? No, Will... Uhh... This is going to sound so cheesy...I want to match with her. Like, just us. Over._ "

"I know", Will assured him. "It was a joke. But yeah... Nothing else now, see you tomorrow, over."

" _Oh, good_ ", Mike chuckled. " _See you tomorrow, over and out._ "

 

The Byers-Hopper family stuffed theirselves into one car in early Saturday morning, after breakfast. It was cold outside and an even colder car, so the kids in the back seat were side to side in their puffy clothing. 

It didn't take long for Will and Eleven to fall back asleep, the girl resting her head on his shoulder, while Will kept his up with the thick scarf around his neck. Jonathan dozed on and off, looking at the view every once in a while.

 

They started their morning with the visit to the graveyard, placing a candle before the grave on the cold ground.

"Terry Ives", Eleven said slowly, in an almost silent whisper. Then she turned to Joyce, who had an arm around her shoulders. "She didn't want me?", she whispered softly.

"She did, honey", Joyce hurried to tell her, startled by her words. "She just didn't have a choice. But she kept looking for you, for a long time." She pulled the girl closer, as the wind blew coldly and Eleven shivered. "She loved you very much, even if she didn't get the change to meet you and to raise you by herself."

They turned back to the gravestone. Will, Jonathan, and Jim stood quietly behind them. 

"Ives?", Eleven asked then, keeping her gaze fixed on the name. "Is it my name, too?"

"If you want to, then yes", Joyce nodded to her. "Terry gave you a name, when you were born. You want to hear it?", she smiled softly, as the girl nodded.

"She named you Jane", Joyce said. "Jane Ives."

Eleven didn't ask questions after that. 

They stood there for a while, before agreeing on going for a hot drink and a snack, to warm them up. 

 

The adults and Jonathan got coffees, while Eleven and Will got hot chocolates. 

Eleven eyed the teen's coffee, who sat next to her at the small table in the cafe.

"You want to try it?", Jonathan asked, smiling at the curious face she had.

Eleven looked at him, nodding. Jonathan offered the cup to her, and she took a careful sip, before giving it back.

Everyone at the table stared at her, expecting her to spit it out or something. But she ignored their amused eyes, calmly taking a bite of her cinnamon roll, looking out of the window at the street filling with people. 

_Tasted like Chewy's kisses._

Will laughed suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. "I'm sorry", he chuckled, trying to calm down. 

"You okay there, buddy?", Jim asked, highly amused, giving his back an affectionate pat.

 

Once they were done in the cafe and got out on the streets, Will came to Eleven's side.

"You can't do that", he chuckled to her. "People will think I'm an idiot, if I suddenly start laughing on my own."

"You were not alone", she said, with a hint of a smile on her lips, looking around the shopping street. 

She had been in Hawkins' town centre many times now, but this was a whole different experience. A lot more shops, and a lot more people. They even had fancier Christmas lights here. 

"Looks nice", she told him.

Will looked around, too. "Yeah, I guess", he nodded. "Wait when it snows, even Hawkins looks Christmassy, then."

"I read about it. Snow", she told him, exited in her own calm way. "Cold air brings water in air together", she explained, bringing her hands together in front of her, "it freezes, and it is snow."

"Wow", he smiled broadly at her, making her feel even prouder. "You just remember everything you read, just like that?"

Eleven shrugged. "I like it."

"Weather and stuff?" Will questioned.

"Learning", she looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed, like he had said something weird. 

"And here we are!", Joyce told the children happily, stopping the group in front of a store.

"I'm just going to that shop--", Jonathan begun, pointing the direction to his mother.

"No", Joyce told him.

"--just over the street--", the teen continued.

"You're going to come inside with us--."

"--and I'll be back before you're even ready!", Jonathan finished, crossing the street already.

Joyce turned to Jim, who chuckled at the teens tactics. Then she turned to the two pre-teens with them. "Don't ever leave me", she whispered, hugging them both close.

Will laughed, trying to get away, but Eleven snuggled back with a soft smile on her face.

"Now, let's get you the dresses and tuxes you need!"

 

They let Eleven wander around and look at the dresses on her own, because she actually went through them. Jim trailed behind, watching out for her. 

Joyce on the other hand tried to help Will, who looked like he didn't even know what he was looking for in the first place.

But it actually didn't take that long, before Will had found a fitting suit and shoes with it, too. He had grown since the last time he had needed them, not like the other boys but enough. Jim went to pay them already, to get it out of the way. 

When he returned with the paper bag, Will lounged on a sofa before one of the changing rooms, where Joyce helped Eleven with the dresses.

She tried almost every blue dress she could find. Some of them too much for her, some of them too short for Jim's liking, some of them itched from the inside... All of them wrong, somehow. 

Until she found just the right one.

Eleven didn't like puffy dresses and she was glad to find one that wasn't. It was royal blue, knee-long dress. It had little, puffy sleeves just under her shoulders, with a form fitting top.

Will stared at her, eyes wide. 

Jim looked proud. "We're taking that one", he announced immediately.

"Give it a twirl", Joyce said, taking her hand, and slowly spinning the girl around. Eleven stared at the hem and it's movement.

"I like it", she said, looking at herself from one of the mirrors.

"You look beautiful, honey", Joyce gushed over the girl. She had promised herself to not to cry, in the shop at least. She loved her boys, but she loved the chance to get these experiences with Eleven, too.

Eleven beamed at her. "Thank you", she whispered shyly. 

They also got Mike a matching tie on Karen's behalf, his mother wanting them to match as perfectly as they could. Eleven found the idea nice, too, as she compared the range of colors with the dress. She hoped that he would like it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Very chapter, such comments, much love. - preciousbean


	14. Take me dancing tonight, I want to hit that high

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Another chapter here, hullo! Just wanted to remind you how awesome you are, that's all. Thank you. - preciousbean

**Take me dancing tonight, I want to hit that high**

 

"-throw the dice, already!"

"I don't want to!"

"You can't know what you get, before you do it!"

Then she heard the sound of dice rolling on the wooden table. A few seconds of silence.. And then the boys cheered loudly, while Mike finished the grande story he had been writing for months. Which had really been something, after the smaller one's they had already played. 

Eleven was too tired to open her eyes. She had gone for a long walk with Chewy in the morning, because she had simply felt like it. Then she had learned how to bake and then glaze cookies with Karen, while Holly had tried to eat them before they were ready. Eleven had then played hide and seek, for the first time in her life, with the toddler. 

The boys had come home from school, eager to finish the campaign they had started on Sunday morning and had continued on Monday, Tuesday, and now finally finished it on Wednesday. She had practiced her writing while they had played, having set her mind on making her own Christmas cards after seeing the ones Nancy had made. 

She could write, but not in the same pretty and steady curls of letters as Nancy did. 

"El? You awake?", she heard Dustin call her.

She curled into a small ball on the sofa, under the soft blanket, keeping her eyes closed. "Hm.."

"Let her rest", it was Mike this time. His voice made her insides bubble.

"Aw...It's only six", Lucas protested. "I thought that we could practice some dance moves today."

 _Dance moves?_ , she asked Will in wonder, too tired to open her mouth. Her powers, on the other hand, she could use while half asleep if she needed to. And the connection to Will didn't basically do anything to her.

"We can do that some other day", Mike suggested.

 _How you move with music_ , Will answered her question. For him, the connection had been harder to maintain. But now, after hours and hours of practicing, he could keep it open for a few minutes straight. He had even opened it himself a couple of times.

"The snow ball's the day after tomorrow", Dustin pointed out. 

_I can't wait_ , Eleven even send the excitement over to Will, smiling with her eyes closed.

 _I think you should try the dancing first, then decide_ , he told her.

They hadn't told anyone else yet about Will and hers mind connection, wanting to explore it on their own. And she set him boundaries, like stopping before she could see any blood under his nose or before he got too tired. They had it under control. They didn't want to worry anyone.

Eleven slowly opened her eyes, to watch the boys around the table, who were clearing out the game. She turned her eyes to Will, her now-brother, who had already been looking at her to maintain the brain-call.

Will smirked, as she stretched her legs like a cat. "You should teach her today, Lucas", he told his friend, and the rest of the boys turned to the girl, too.

"You look really comfy there, El", Dustin laughed, as Eleven sat up and crossed her legs under her, the blanket still around her shoulders. 

"Do you want to give it a try?", Lucas asked, excited. "Dancing?"

Eleven shrugged, looking shy. 

Mike picked on her uneasiness. "Lucas is the only one of us who can really dance", he told her, "so it's fine to try with us first."

"Yeah", Lucas nodded, turning on the radio and finding the right channel. Then, fast beat music filled the room. She loved listening to the radio, and she recognized many of the songs she heard from it, already. Lucas came to her then, offering her his hand. "Then...just let me show you, okay?"

She got out of the blanket wrap and took his hand, not sure what she expected to happen. He then pulled her to where they had more room, taking her other hand, too.

"Just, move with the music, I guess", he laughed, moving their hands with the beat. 

And Eleven tried. She felt shy at first, trying to watch what Lucas did. 

"Then move your feet, a little, like this", Lucas advised her, showing her what he did.

Dustin joined them, his dancing making her giggle as she tried to understand the movement of her own feet. 

Lucas then let go of her hands, letting her try it herself. 

Eleven glanced at Mike, who stood there with Will, watching and grinning, both already moving to the rhythm a little. 

Lucas also noticed them and he danced to his friends, over-doing every movement and pulled the two to dance, too. Dustin span Eleven around a couple times, showing her how to do it. And after every song, Eleven had gotten more confident with her movements.

"She got it!", Lucas cheered, spinning her around, Eleven dancing quite easily along now. 

Nothing too complicated, really, but still better than at first.

And she enjoyed it, dancing. Eleven felt free and weightless. Happy.

 

Before they were about to leave, Eleven went to get the tie-box from her jacket's pocket. She was about to return to the basement, when she saw Karen in the kitchen. She went over to her, as the woman poured herself hot water for tea.

"Hi, honey", Karen smiled at her. "You want a cup, too?"

"No, thank you." She then lifted the box in her hands, to show the woman. "This is the colour I chose", she told her, letting her to peer through the clear cover.

A smile spread on Karen's face. "That's beautiful, El. On both of you", she assured her. "Michael's going to love it."

"Good", Eleven said in a small voice, nodding, and with that she returned to the basement. She slowly descended the stairs, looking at the boys who were playing around.

"Mike?", she asked, immediately gaining the boy's attention.

"Yeah?", Mike asked, getting out of Lucas' headlock, laughter still playing on his face. 

Will pushed his back then, guiding him to move towards the girl. Eleven and Will shared a quick smile, before the girl turned around and made her way to the other side of the basement.

"You okay?", Mike asked immediately, eyes searching her face.

"I am", she offered the packet to him. "I wanted to give you this."

Mike took the box, peering through the lid, before opening it. "I like it", he said, turning to look at her. "T-thanks, El", he smiled shyly to her. "Your dress is the same color?"

Eleven nodded.

"Good", he murmured, cheeks pink. 

"It's important?", she asked him.

"Kind of, yeah", he agreed, putting the lid back. He fiddled with the box. "I don't know.. I guess it's stupid", he muttered then, looking at the tie with a light blush and a shy smile nonetheless. 

"It's not stupid", Eleven assured him. "Tell me."

"I-I guess I want to...show everyone that you came with me", Mike stuttered, still afraid to look at her, "and not with the other guys."

"I like it", she whispered to him, making Mike to turn his eyes on her. "Matching the colors. With you", she told him, choosing her words carefully, despite the weird feeling in her stomach and the soft blur in her head. It was making her doubt if she had said anything, the way she thought she did.

But after seeing the smile on Mike's face, the doubts were all gone.

"El! We need to go", Will called her.

She caressed his hand briefly, which gripped the box. "Good night, Mike."

"Good night, El", he whispered back, fighting back the need to take her hand in his.

 

"You guys are cute", Will said, as they biked their way back home. "You and Mike."

"Hmm."

"Like, the way you do things", he continued, with a smile on his face. "It's nice."

"The way we do things?", Eleven asked softly, glancing at the boy.

"I don't know", he shrugged. "You always worry about each other and you do these little things, like the chocolates, the flower, and the tie. I don't know, I guess I like how you make them so special."

"They are special", she told him, eyebrows now furrowed.

"And I think that's nice", Will chuckled.

"You don't want to do that?", Eleven asked, eyeing him. "To someone?"

"Yeah, I guess", Will agreed. "If I had someone like that, I think I would do the same. Make everything special for them, I mean."

They continued on the dark road in a comfortable silence for a while. When they were together, neither of them were scared of the dark woods around them. 

"I want to continue being El", Eleven said suddenly, startling Will.

"Yeah?", he asked.

"Jane is not...me", she explained to him. "I like it, but I want to be me."

"You can have it as a second name", Will suggested.

"I can have two names?", she asked, and he nodded. "Do you have?"

"Mine is Matthew", he told her. "Jonathan's middle name is Ellis, after our grandfather."

"Everyone has a second name?"

"Almost everyone", Will shrugged. "Lucas has two middle names for example. He's an only child, so I guess they just had a lot of names they wanted to use."

"What are they?", Eleven asked, fascinated by the whole thing. "Lucas', Dustin's and Mike's whole names?"

"Ah, let's see..", Will thought. "Lucas Oscar...Benjamin Sinclair", he begun, chuckling. "Dustin Nathan Henderson", he continued, "and Michael Edward Wheeler. All the middle names he and his sisters have start with an 'E'", he added.

"I could be El Jane?", Eleven asked. "Do I need to be Ives?", her face scrunched up in thought.

"You don't need to be Ives", Will told her. "I guess you could choose your own, or you could be either Byers or Hopper. Usually, when you're a part of a family, you share the same last name."

"But Jim is Hopper?"

"Yeah, well...He and mom aren't married - that's when adults change their names. So he's Hopper and the rest of us are Byers'."

Eleven thought, the rest of the way home, how she too wanted to be a part of the family.

 

When Eleven cuddled into bed in the evening, next to Joyce, she felt confident of her choice. She turned to the woman next to her, looking at her with her large and brown eyes. 

Joyce lowered the book she had been reading, reaching out a hand to stroke her hair. "You want me to turn off the light?"

Eleven shook her head.

"Are you nervous about the ball?", Joyce asked then, pinching her cheek affectionately. 

They had already filled, her cheeks, enough for them to be pinched a little. It made Joyce incredibly happy, to see her getting better and healthier by every passing day.

"No", Eleven whispered softly. "I talked with Will. About names."

"Oh, you did?", Joyce asked, putting the book on the nightstand, before turning back to her.

"Yes. I want to continue being El", she told the woman, eyes searching for acceptance.

"You don't want to be Jane?"

"Jane could be a middle name."

Joyce kissed her forehead, before pulling the girl to her side, wrapping the blankets around them better. "I think that's a beautiful name. Jane. And that's what your mother chose for you. It's nice if you choose to have it as your middle name", she told her.

"Is El good, too?", the girl asked, her voice uncertain. 

"Yes", Joyce nodded, kissing her temple. "It's short, but it's you."

"Short?", Eleven's eyebrows furrowed.

"When it's written", the woman explained. Then she reached her hand for the drawer on the nightstand, pulling out a notepad and a pencil. She wrote her own name, Will's, Jonathan's, Jim's and finally El's on the paper. 

"Usually, and that's just usually, names have more than three letters. Jim's name is short already", she told the girl, before pointing at her two letter name, "but we could add a couple of letters to El, to make it look longer. Like...", she scribbled something on the paper, "this."

"How do you say it?", Eleven asked. "E-l-l-e?"

"The same way you say El, honey, and it's just for the papers. We would keep calling you El, like we have done 'til now. But when you'd write your name, in the future, you'd write it like this", Joyce suggested to her softly.

Eleven nodded. "I like it. Elle."

"Elle Jane", Joyce smiled at the girl by her side. "I love it, honey. It's a beautiful name."

"Elle Jane Hopper", Eleven added shyly.

"Really?", Joyce asked her, tears coming to her eyes. "Jim's going to be so happy", she got out, before covering her mouth with a hand.

"Are you sad?", Eleven asked her worriedly, looking at the tears. "That I didn't choose Byers?"

"No, of course not", Joyce hurried to tell her.

"I thought about family", the girl explained, fiddling with the blanket. "You share the same name, but Jim is alone. And he is family, too."

"You--." Joyce covered her face with little kisses, making Eleven beam. "You're such a precious child, you know that, right?", she told her. "Tell him tomorrow, at breakfast, okay? He'll be so glad. And I want to see his face when he hears", she added, smiling warmly.

"Can't wait for him to come home?", Eleven asked, glancing at the clock.

"He'll come home in two hours, just go to sleep, sweetie", Joyce assured her. "He'll be here when you wake up."

 

_She was filled with panic, as she stared into the cold, grey eyes. They held no feelings._

_Nothing._

_"No", she whispered, sobbing, looking at the foreign face in front of her._

_"Return, Eleven", the person told her, lifting her hands back up._

_"No!", she screamed._

_Then the pain returned, along with the flashing lights._

_Eleven screamed, dropping to her knees to the hard ground and threw the girl back with force._

_The buzz headed girl got up again, before Eleven was ready for another round. She made her way to her, looking down at her without any visible emotion on her face._

_"Stop", Eleven sobbed, her whole body shaking._

_She tried to stop her, her trembling hands against the other girl's legs, pushing her slightly away._

_But her arms didn't have enough strength to do it, no matter how hard she tried._

_She then saw the number on the girl's hand._

_"Four?", she croaked._

_"Eleven", the girl answered, placing her palms to the sides of her head._

_Eleven closed her eyes, already knowing what would happen._

_When the pain hit her, she screamed with full force, not being able to control it._

_Not being able to control herself._

_Four didn't touch her again after that._

_Eleven cried, and when her legs ceased from their shaking, she ran, leaving the body behind._

 

Joyce had been right. Jim was there when Eleven woke up, but it wasn't a happy occasion. The girl sleeping in the between of them trembled and cried in her sleep, waking up both of the adults in the middle of the night.

"Shh, honey, it's okay", Joyce whispered to the girl, stroking her hair. "It's just a bad dream, it's okay, don't cry..."

"Mom?", Eleven whispered in a tiny voice, turning to Joyce, eyes barely open.

Joyce choked on her own tears. "Come here, sweetie", she whispered, pulling the girl softly into her arms. She locked her eyes with Jim, who had his arm around the both of them, like he had in times like these.

"It was only a nightmare", Jim murmured, kissing the top of the girl's head.

"I didn't mean it", the girl begun rambling, hiccuping. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean--."

"It's okay honey, it was a nightmare... It's okay", Joyce whispered to her, hushed words filling the room, combining with the soft sobs and thick darkness.

 

They sat at the table in the morning, eating breakfast with the whole family together. 

Will and Jonathan were ready for school, Joyce for work, while Eleven was ready to spend the morning with Jim who had an afternoon shift.

Joyce then remembered the conversation with Eleven, before the girl had fell asleep. Before the three of them had woke up in the middle of the night, because of another nightmare. She turned to her side, to the girl who ate her toast in silence. 

"Do you want to tell him now?", Joyce whispered to the girl, so quietly that no one else heard her.

"Hey", Jonathan chuckled, "no whispering in company", he told the two childishly. Joyce raised an eyebrow at her son, but Eleven smiled. Then she looked at Joyce and nodded.

"Jim", Joyce smiled to the man at the opposite side of the table.

"Hmm?", he sipped his coffee, looking back at her.

"El has thought about the name-thing", she begun, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"You have, huh?", Jim put down his cup, turning to the girl with an encouraging smile.

"Elle Jane Hopper", Eleven said softly. 

The man and the boys sat there, staring at her, while she and Joyce waited for their reactions with wide smiles on their faces.

"You sure, honey?", Jim murmured then. "Not Ives, not Byers, but Hopper?"

"Yes", Eleven said seriously. "You are family, too."

He chuckled, a wide smile settling on his face, eyes teary. "You've no idea, how damn happy that makes me."

 

After Will, Jonathan, and Joyce had left, they wrote down every detail that Eleven had a say in on her papers. 

"E-l-l-e", Eleven said slowly, while Jim wrote it. "...Jane Hopper."

Jim chuckled, shaking his head. "Wow."

"Is it good?", Eleven asked, looking at the man next to her.

"Better than good", he assured her. "The next thing is your birthday. Do you want to choose it?"

"Do you know when my birthday is?", she asked him instead, her eyes curious.

"In early July", he begun, "1971. That's all I know."

"More than I did", the girl said slowly, turning to look at the paper in front of her. "11th of July."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"It would've been 11th, no matter what month?"

"Yes."

"Alright, just checking."

"Next?"

"Your legal guardians", Jim said, turning to look at her.

"You still want me?", Eleven asked, eyebrows furrowed. "You and Joyce?"

Jim nodded. "We will want you with us forever."

Eleven beamed, and he smiled back. "So us it is, then?", he said, writing their names and information on the paper.

"Yes", she said, looking at what he wrote. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, or Joyce, you hear me?", Jim sighed. He lifted a hand to her head, stroking the back of her hair softly. "You're part of our family, that's it."

Eleven stood up and came to lean her head against his chest. Jim chuckled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Do you want me to drop you off at the Wheeler's, before work?", he asked after a while.

"I'm riding the bike", her voice was muffled against his chest.

"It fits in the back of the truck", Jim told her. "I can take you."

"Okay", Eleven said, but didn't pull away just yet.

These moments weren't usual between the two, as Eleven usually went to Joyce for a hug if she felt like having one. Sometimes to Will, or even Jonathan, too. 

So he smiled, and didn't let go just yet, either.

 

Karen had been watching over Holly having a snack, when she heard the front door go. "We're in the kitchen!", she raised her voice just enough for it to carry to the front hall.

Eleven joined them soon. She had Nancy's old sweater on, grey with white snowflake pattern on it, and dark purple pants, which she had found with Nancy a few weeks back. She looked so cute, sitting down at the table and making faces with Holly. 

Karen still couldn't understand how anyone, who looked so peaceful and so...normal, could simply have so much power inside of her. 

It was wonderful, to see the girl learn things so fast and to laugh and play around like normal children did. Eleven was so good with people, for someone with a past like hers, that it felt unnatural to Karen. 

"Do you want anything, El?", Karen asked.

"I'm good, thank you", the girl answered. She had learned that phrase a while back, and after repeating it a few times forcefully, it now came out of her mouth as naturally as breathing.

"An apple", Holly said offering the piece in her hand to Eleven, who tried to take it with her fingers. Holly snatched it away. "I'm feeding you", the girl let out a giggle.

Eleven rolled her eyes, a small smile playing on her lips, and leaned forward with her mouth open. 

Holly stuffed the whole piece in there, giggling loudly. Eleven stared at her, mouth hanging open with the apple ledge showing, and Holly almost choked in laughter. Finally, the girl closed her mouth around the large piece and chewed, eyeing the four-year-old next to her.

"Good", Eleven commented, after her mouth was empty.

"I can cut you some more if you'd like?", Karen smiled at the girls. All she needed was a nod and 'thank you' from the older girl, and she got up from her place.

"I spoke to Joyce yesterday", she begun, and continued after gaining Eleven's attention. "Did she tell you?"

"No", Eleven's eyebrows furrowed.

"We thought that it would be fun, if you and Will came here tomorrow, to get ready for the ball", she said, bringing the now cut apples with her to the table. "Nancy said that she would like to do your hair and makeup, if you'd like that", she added, already knowing the answer.

"I'd like that", the girl nodded, excitedly.

"And meanwhile, the boys can get ready in Michael's room."

 

When Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas came from school, they spotted the girls on the living room couch, napping. 

Eleven laid on her back with her head against an armrest, with Holly snuggled by her side and the two of them under the same blanket. The TV was still on. 

The boys sneaked past them for a snack in the kitchen, and after a while situated themselves around the TV. 

Mike sat on the couch, next to Eleven's outstretched legs. He kept glancing at the girl, while watching cartoons. Then suddenly, she scrunched up her toes in her sleep, curling them against his leg. He couldn't concentrate on anything after that. 

Well, other than the girl, whose toes even had enough charm, apparently, to get him air-headed.

 

He couldn't do it.

He just simply couldn't do it.

It was only lunch and Mike was so nervous that he felt like throwing up. 

They would get home earlier that day, which had at first made him feel better, but now that was just another thing on the list of things that made his stomach knot even tighter. 

It was the day of the snow ball.

"Hey", Will called him, lifting up his eyebrows at his expression. "It's El, alright? Don't be that nervous."

Mike dropped his head to his hands. "I know", he mumbled.

Dustin and Lucas sniggered, while Will eyed their friend.

"I think that's the worst part", Lucas chuckled. "That it's actually El."

"Yeah", Dustin agreed, smirking at Mike's direction.

"No!", Will looked at the two with wide eyes, before turning back to Mike. "Why?"

"Because he will want to see her after that, too", Dustin said, like it was obvious. 

"Unghh..", Mike didn't even use words for complaining anymore. 

"He doesn't want to mess it up", Lucas told Will. "Otherwise it'll be embarrassing for him, for a long time."

Will looked at the two, trying to decide whether to laugh or cry. They just were so stupid sometimes. He sighed instead, shaking his head and turning to Mike, whose face was still covered with his hands.

"I don't think you can even mess it up", Will told him, with all the honesty he could bring forward. "Besides, you can't chicken out. She's been waiting for this... For a year, really", he added. "She's really excited to go."

"Yeah?", Mike removed his hands from his face. "H-has she said anything?", he asked then, blushing when Dustin and Lucas chuckled at him.

"She doesn't even need to", Will smirked. "She chose the dress color because of your favorite color", he pointed out, silencing the table, "and she's like, really, really beautiful in it." He didn't feel embarrassed complimenting her. She did look beautiful in it. 

"And I spend half an hour choosing a tie with her, for you", he added, making Dustin nudge Mike's arm, and Lucas grin.

Mike groaned then, face completely red. "Now I'm even more nervous!", he whined while fiddling with his sleeves, eyeing his lunch before him.

"And", Will added, "and if you ditch her, I'm not letting you out with her again", he threatened.

Mike paused mid-movement, as he had been reaching for his juice-box. "You can't do that", he said, eyes wide.

"I can", Will nodded, "brothers can do that, you know."

"Ooh!", Lucas said, and he and Dustin both high-fived with Will. Then the three of them turned to Mike, who looked at them defeatedly.

"I never said I wasn't going", the boy murmured.

"Right!", Lucas laughed. 

"And if you're not, we'll have a date, then", Dustin added with a shrug.

"I'm going!", Mike told him. "Just shut up, already."

But his friends ignored him. "We can take turns, right?", Lucas turned to Dustin with a smirk. "Like, I'll get to dance with her, then you."

"Why you're getting the first dance?", Dustin frowned at his friend.

Mike dropped his head on his hands with a groan. He missed his friends amused grins and how they tried to hold their laughter.

 

They would meet Lucas and Dustin at the ball, they agreed on it. And Mike was finally, when school ended, eager to get home. 

He and Will rode their bikes a little faster than usual. They barged into the house, getting a strange look from Nancy who had just gotten home herself, too, and had been hanging her coat.

"You alright?", she confirmed and the boys turned to look at each other, before turning to her and nodding.

"Just...I don't know...", Mike muttered, taking off his coat.

"Excited?", Nancy laughed. 

"Shut up", Mike told Nancy, who smirked at her brother.

Their mother walked past them, stopping at the sight. "You're all home, already", she smiled. "Holly and El are in the kitchen, if you want to join them", she told the boys.

"If they want?", Nancy laughed, ruffling Mike's hair. Then she pushed him forward, towards the kitchen. "I will come and steal her after a while, to get her ready", she warned him. 

Mike showed her the finger and kept going, Will following him with a huge grin on his face.

 

And there they were, Eleven and Holly sitting on the counter with the toaster before the two. Eleven had a hold of Holly's both hands, as the toddler kept giggling.

"What are you doing?", Will laughed, startling the two.

"Eggos", Eleven smiled shyly.

"Does mom know you're sitting there?", Mike added, looking at his little sister.

"Go away, Mike!", Holly told him sternly, backing up to sit on Eleven's lap.

"Why?", he chuckled, going to the fridge and taking two sodas. He offered the other to Will, before turning to Eleven. "You want one?", he asked her.

Eleven looked at the red can for a while, before shaking her head with a small smile.

"MOM", Holly yelled then, "Mike won't go away!"

"Be nice to each other!", Karen simply yelled back.

"Let them be, Holly", Eleven told the girl.

"I want to be alone with you", the girl pouted.

"We have been, the whole day", she reminded her. "They just got home. Be nice", she copied Karen's words.

Mike looked victorious, while Will shyly sipped his coke.

"Was school nice?", Eleven asked the boys, turning to look at them.

Will almost spat his drink out, because of a sudden chuckle. "It was fine", he told her, remembering their lunch. 

But the boys acted weird and she noticed it, deciding to let it slide for now.

The eggos popped out of the toaster. Eleven put one on Holly's plate, before putting the rest on hers and covering them with syrup. Then she offered the two for the boys, while taking hers with her free hand, bending it over and taking a bite. 

Mike sniggered at her and took one, doing the same. Will took his, too, being even more careful to not make a mess with it.

"Did something happen? At school?", Eleven asked, while putting another set of the frozen waffles to heat up.

"No", Mike shrugged, "like what?". He avoided her eyes, as much as he could.

"You're weird", Eleven noted, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah! You're weird, Mike", Holly agreed, poking his cheek with her sticky finger.

"Hey!", Mike tried to wipe his face with the back of his hand. "Don't gang up on me!", he said, dipping both of his index fingers on the plate before him and smudging syrup on both of their faces. 

Eleven looked at him with her eyebrows raised high, but Holly looked pissed. And Mike wasn't the only one to notice that. Eleven frowned, floated some paper over and wiped the girl's cheek. 

Will shared an alarmed look with Mike.

"I'm going to tell mom", the toddler muttered, looking at her brother.

Eleven hopped down from the counter, before letting Holly down and whispering something to her. The girl nodded, and with one last glare at her big brother, she left the room with a fresh waffle.

"What was that about?", Will looked at Eleven, with a surprised smile on his face.

"She's a Holly whisperer", Mike said, eyes wide. 

Eleven looked at them both, before shrugging. She still had syrup on her cheek. Will's smile turned to smirk then.

"What did you say to her?", Mike asked, impressed of how well she handled his sister. "She usually runs straight to mom. Did you promise her something?"

Taking the rest of the waffles out of the toaster and pouring some more syrup on the plate, Eleven shrugged. "Nothing", she told him. Then she turned to look at him, dipping her fingers on the plate behind her back. "Or revenge", she smiled to him sweetly.

Will took the clue and pulled Mike's hands behind his back.

"H-hey, wait up!", Mike panicked. "Ugh..", he let out, when the stuff touched his face. Eleven slowly drew a line, from his forehead down, with the sticky syrup. 

Mike stared at her face, trying to wriggle free from Will's hold. "It's not fair--", he started, but her finger touched his upper lip then, just under his nose, so he shut up. Then she dragged it over his lips, to his chin. His skin tingled after the touch, making him blush. 

Then Will let him go, laughing, and Eleven smiled at him smugly.

"You're a bully", Mike told to her, pouting.

"You were first", she patted his cheek with her sticky hand, before reaching over his shoulder and doing the same to Will.

He looked at her, eyes wide. "I was on your side", Will told her, confused.

"I know", Eleven said and let out a small giggle, making the boys grin despite what she had just done.

"Oh, god", Karen sighed, making the three turn to her, each of them looking guilty. "You all need a shower, clearly... El, go to the one in our bedroom - boys you take turns on the other one, alright?", she told them, ushering the three upstairs. "And don't touch anything on the way!", she called after them. "And El, honey?" 

"Yes?"

"You can go to Nancy's room afterwards, she'll help you, okay?"

"I've told her already!", Nancy's voice came from her room upstairs.

"Just making sure!", Karen yelled back.

 

The two boys both took their showers, and then lounged around Mike's room without a rush.

They took turns on the Atari, paused it to comb their hair after Karen came to nag at them and continued right after. They talked with Lucas and Dustin on the supercom for a while, too. 

They were all excited about the night. 

Mike tried to shrug off the feeling, that it wasn't just him taking Eleven to the ball but all the four of them. 

But then he glanced at the tie box, sitting on his desk, and the happy butterflies returned to his stomach. He had been waiting for a year, for this evening. 

The last hour of the wait was about to begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. You know what's coming in the next chapter, right? RIGHT!?


	15. You're so fine, you blow my mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Thank you for the over 2,000 hits so far! <3 AND FINALLY: the Snow Ball.

**You're so fine, you blow my mind**

 

"I don't think you need that", Nancy told Eleven, who looked at one of her few lipsticks. "You can put on some gloss, if you'd like", she suggested.

"Hmm." The girl looked through every little thing on her table, and the teen let her. 

Nancy dried her hair, making sure it didn't go to her face, and put little hair jewels on the brown curls, here and there. 

"I love your hair", Nancy told the girl, smiling at her from the mirror.

"I love yours", Eleven said, offering a small smile back. "It's long."

"Your hair will grow", the teen said, "but this...I don't know. I guess it reminds me of her", she finished in a small voice.

"Barb?", Eleven questioned softly, casting her eyes down to the table before her.

Nancy nodded. "She liked it short. And it suited her, like it does suit you. Well, I think you would rock any look... You were pretty even without hair", she smiled. Then she looked at the girl's hair now, from every direction. 

"What do you think? Here, now you can see the back", she put a mirror behind Eleven's head, angling it just right.

"Beautiful". It was a whisper, barely audible, and it made Nancy happy.

"That's what I aimed for. Now, the makeup..."

"Not too much", Eleven told her immediately, looking at the different things with wide eyes. 

"I know", Nancy assured her. 

Eleven liked what Mike had done, when he had put on some makeup for her.

A year ago. And she still remembered it, like it had happened last week. 

 

They chose a light pink blush. Then some natural colored eyeshadows, with a little bit of glitter on them, and mascara. They went with lip balm then, after Eleven tried on a lip gloss. It had felt weird and sticky on her lips. Definitely not nice. 

After they were satisfied, Nancy helped her with the zipper of the dress. She watched with proud eyes as Eleven put on her flats and went to look at herself from the mirror. 

Eleven turned to Nancy, her face going through a range of emotions from grateful to excited.

"Oh", Nancy said then. "I have something for you, actually", she went to fetch something from her table.

"You have?", Eleven whispered.

"Here", Nancy offered something for her, and she carefully took it in her hands.

It was a silvery necklace, with a small rose pendant.

"Early Christmas present", Nancy explained softly. "It's something I used before, a lot", she glanced at the younger girl, for a reaction. "You like it? I know it's not much--."

"I like it", the girl whispered. 

Nancy smiled and helped to put it around her neck. And when Eleven turned around, the teen couldn't help but open her arms for a hug. The girl hugged her back just as gently as she hugged her.

"Now", Nancy breathed out, smoothening the hem of Eleven's dress. "Are you ready?"

"Yes", Eleven nodded, a shy smile playing on her lips and her fingers brushing the necklace. "I'm ready."

 

"You ready?", Nancy asked, when she came downstairs. 

Everyone stood there, in the front hall. Her parents and Holly, Joyce and Jim, Jonathan, and most importantly, Mike and Will.

"Ready", Jonathan smiled, lifting his camera a little. 

Nancy smiled back, pointing at the two boys for him. Jonathan nodded, smirking at her.

Mike had the wrist flower ready in his hands. He felt how sweaty they were, his hands, and he could see them shake, too. 

Will nudged him. "Be cool", he whispered, smiling at him.

"I am", Mike whispered back. 

But he wasn't. 

Especially when he turned to watch as Eleven descended the stairs. He didn't even realize that his mouth hung open, before a camera flashed at him. But he didn't care.

The first thing he saw were the glittery silver shoes. Then he saw her, and wondered how he had even had time to look at her shoes in the first place. 

She was, well, beautiful. 

He couldn't think of anything else, as the butterflies in his stomach raced with each other. 

The dress was the exact same blue that his tie was, and it was simply her. All of it was. Then she suddenly stood there, in front of him, and he opened his mouth a couple of times without success.

"I-I have this", he stuttered, turning red and offering the flower band to her, "for you. On your wrist."

The adults tried to hide their smirks and chuckles. Will turned his head embarrassedly away, while Jonathan kept taking pictures. Nancy simply grinned at the sight of the two, keeping Holly in place as the toddler tried to surge to Eleven.

Fortunately, he didn't see anyone else's reaction as he was busy concentrating on the girl before him. 

Eleven smiled at Mike, so calmly that it even calmed him down a little. She offered her hand and he slipped the band on her wrist. She then took his hand in hers, pushing him her calm and happy feelings. 

Mike breathed in and out, looking at her. 

He felt like he could breath again, after being near to drowning or something. That's what it had felt like, too, when she had came back. 

He had no idea how he had managed a whole year without her.

 

They took a few pictures with all the three of them, then with just the boys. 

Then with Eleven and Will. He had draped his arm around her shoulders, and even Mike admitted that they looked good. Eleven as beautiful as one could be, and Will in his grey tux...They were pretty as a picture. 

Lastly, they took a few with just Eleven and Mike. He wasn't at first sure how he was supposed to be, but then Will helped him by pointing at his own waist from where he stood next to Jonathan. 

So Mike, shy as he was, carefully wrapped his arm around her and placed his palm against her waist. And Eleven settled against his side, like she didn't belong anywhere better than there. They shared a small smile at that point.

Jonathan got it all on film.

The parents weren't quite ready to let them go, when the children needed to leave for the ball. 

 

Nancy and Jonathan wanted to drop them off, to get a few good pictures of the whole gang together.

Eleven sat in the between of the boys and the three travelled in comfortable silence, all of them eager to get to the school. 

But she couldn't stop looking at Mike, even in the dim light of the street lamps which flashed into the car every few seconds. She now knew, what he had meant with the matching colors. She glanced at the tie once again, feeling giddy.

Mike turned to her then, locking his eyes with hers. He took her hand in his, pulling it softly to his lap, before wrapping his another hand around hers, too.

He looked pretty, but much prettier than usually. She then remembered the other word she had heard, what she had been told boys were. 

_Handsome, really handsome_ , she told him, making him smile shyly.

 _"Beautiful"_ , he mouthed back to her. 

It was dark, but Eleven could still see his face turn a few shades darker. 

She smiled shyly back at him, feeling her face heat up, too. And it was a weird feeling, making her scrunch her nose a little in thought. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but still, she hadn't really understood what it meant. 

Ignoring the feeling for now she cast her eyes away from his, feeling the sudden need to do so.

 

"It's freezing", Lucas complained, jumping on his place. 

It really was freezing, but it didn't look like Christmas at all. There were no snow, only grey ground and some ice here and there.

"I told you, we could wait inside, too", Dustin told him, looking at the arriving cars while waiting for their friends.

"What if they had passed us, in the hall?", Lucas said back. "How would we have found them, then?"

"We would have, man. Calm down."

"Guys!"

They both turned to the right, to the parking lot. Will, Mike, and Eleven made their way towards them, Jonathan and Nancy not far behind.

"Aww, you guys", Nancy coo'd. "Waiting in the cold, how romantic."

"Let's get inside, alright?", Jonathan ushered the kids, chuckling softly. "We'll take a few pictures of you, and then we'll be on our way."

 

The hall was already full of people, ornaments, and everything. 

Eleven looked at it all with wide eyes. Despite the things she had gone through in there, she couldn't wait for the ball room itself. As the trio went to take away their coats, Dustin turned to Jonathan with a grin.

"You took a picture of Mike, right?", his eyes gleamed with amusement. "Of when he sees her?"

Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows at him, a small smile playing on his lips. "As it happens, yes...but why are you guys teasing him, too? You're his friends", his eyes went between Dustin and Lucas, who had come closer for the gossip, too.

"Because he's sometimes just sooo dense", Dustin chuckled.

Nancy agreed with him. "He's so obvious, but still denies everything when I ask him about her."

"I think it's just fun", Lucas shrugged, his eyes searching for their missing friends.

Jonathan chuckled at them, turning to shake his head at Nancy with an amused smile on his lips.

"Oh my god", Dustin breathed out suddenly, eyes wide and a huge grin plastered on his face.

Lucas turned to the same direction and after a few seconds of search his mouth dropped open.

Their three friends joined them and Dustin took Eleven's hand, twirling her around. "Look at you!", he exclaimed. "Yeah... I so want that dance", he nodded approvingly.

"You have to get in line", Mike told him, and the two started a good hearted bicker. Eleven stood in the between of them, her eyes wide from the sudden loud noise the boys made.

Will came to stand next to Lucas. "Look at Mike", he whispered, so Lucas did. 

And Mike looked so... happy. Even while bickering with Dustin, he had a huge smile plastered on his face. Eleven then turned to look at Will and Lucas, silently asking for help. 

Will grinned at her, showing her that it was fine.

An year ago, Lucas would've never thought that they would do anything this normal, ever again. 

But there they were, Will fine and healthy right next to him. And with Eleven, who was at the moment trying to calm Mike and Dustin down. 

Lucas kept glancing at the happy face of his smaller friend by his side, feeling content. This was all that he could've hoped for, an year ago, and even more.

"Come on now, boys", Jonathan laughed. "We want to get away from here, too", he sniggered as the kids stopped what ever they were doing, arranging themselves in a row. "Good, now smile."

He took a few different pictures, hearing Nancy's giggles right from next to him. 

"So, we will pick you all up", Nancy told the kids, "with the bigger car. At nine precisely. Cool?"

"Yeah", they all nodded in unison.

"Now, go!", she ushered them, before leaving with Jonathan.

"Want to go back to your house, with everyone, or go catch a movie?", Jonathan asked, as they walked back to the car.

Nancy glanced at her clock. "We have more than enough time", she started, before turning to him with a soft smile and taking his hand. "A movie first." 

 

They stopped in front of the doors, excited but nervous at the same time.

"You ready?", Mike asked Eleven, who stood next to him.

She nodded, eyes on the doors. "Ready."

It was a winter wonderland. There were soft lights twinkling from the sealing, white cloths on the tables around the dance floor...

"Pretty", Eleven sighed.

Many of the kids turned to look at them, at the group of friends who usually stayed far away from these kind of things. But the boys were too happy to care as they slowly guided Eleven to an empty table, further away from the dance floor and attention.

"We can go get some punch", Mike suggested, pointing between him, Lucas and Dustin.

"Yeah", Will nodded, sitting down next to Eleven. When their friends left, he turned to the girl. She looked at everything around them with such interest, that he suddenly wondered when was the last time that he had been as curious about something. Still, she didn't look relaxed.

"You alright, El?", he asked, leaning a bit closer to be heard over the music.

She turned to look at him, nodding furiously. "I'm fine", she offered a smile. Then she glanced at the room, and the people there, before continuing: "Why are they looking, at us?"

"Oh", Will's eyes widened, glancing at the room. "We don't usually go to these things, I guess. They must be surprised to see us", he explained.

Eleven didn't look convinced. She lifted a hand to her hair. "Is it because of me..my hair?"

"No!", he told her. "There are a few girls here with short hair, too", he hurried to say, pointing a few out for her. "Besides, if someone stares, it's because they're jealous."

"Jealous?", she repeated, face scrunching up.

"Yeah", Will nodded. "Because you're cool, and new, and hanging out with us", he explained. "They probably would like to get to know you, too."

"Really?", Eleven asked him, her whole face showing her confusion.

"Really", he laughed at her impression. "Nothing ever happens in here, but you're pretty cool, too. And I think, personally, that the reason for their stares is the latter."

"What are you talking about?", Mike asked, sitting down at the table on her other side, but didn't wait for an answer. "Here", he offered a mug to Eleven, who took it slowly. 

Lucas gave Will his drink, as he and Dustin sat down, too.

"What is it?", she asked, eyeing the blue liquid with caution. _Looks like poison_ , she told Will. _Like in movies._

She had read a book, about witches. The different colored liquids fascinated her, but they had done some bad things, too.

 _Don't say that out loud_ , Will advised in her head. He had a huge smile plastered on his face.

"It's punch", Mike explained. "Like a--, just taste it, okay? Trust me on this", he told her.

Eleven sipped at the drink, keeping her eyes on him. Then she swallowed, before offering him a smile. "It's good", she told him. It tasted like soda, the only difference being the blue color.

Mike smiled back, before taking a sip of his drink, too. He then noticed the way she looked at everything happening in the room. That was when he actually realized how overwhelming the whole situation probably was for her. 

He turned with his chair, scooting next to Eleven so that he looked to the dance floor together with her. 

"That", he started telling her, bringing his head closer to hers, finger pointing at the stage, "is the band. They have a list of songs they're playing tonight." Eleven nodded, eyeing the instruments. "I can tell you more about the instruments tomorrow, if you want", Mike offered. 

And once again Eleven wondered if she had been pushing her thoughts into his mind on accident. 

He just sometimes knew exactly what she thought about.

Then Mike pointed at the middle of the room, where the lights from the ceiling were the brightest.

"That's the dance floor, as you probably know", he told her, while they watched the kids already dancing there. "Not everyone wants to dance, so you don't have to if you don't want to. I know I'm quite bad at it but I will go dance with you, if you want", Mike rumbled on, making Eleven smile.

"Later", she told him, laughter in her eyes. She wasn't quite ready yet, to go there, in the middle of everyone. But she liked the idea, dancing together with Mike.

Mike nodded to her. He pointed at the corner near the doors next, "those are photo booths", he told her. "We can go test them later, they're quite fun", he promised.

"To take photos together?", she confirmed.

"Yeah", Mike chuckled softly.

"Good", she nodded approvingly.

 

They spend a lot of time at the table first, getting comfortable. Eleven still felt the eyes on her, but she tried to concentrate on her friends around her. 

Lucas and Dustin noticed Troy and James, on the other side of the ball room with what seemed to be their dates, but they decided to not to inform their friends about the fact. Instead, they kept their eyes on them. Just in case.

After a while, the first person came to them. Lucas nudged Will, pointing at the girl, who came around the table, to stand next to Will and Eleven.

"Hi Will", the girl smiled, making everyone at the table turn to her. "Hi", she told the rest of the table, then.

"Oh, hi, Jennifer", Will said, suddenly getting nervous. Dustin, Lucas, and Mike simply stared.

But to Will's delight and everyone else's surprise, the girl turned to Eleven. 

"I don't think I have seen you before", she told her, smiling softly. "I'm Jennifer", she said, offering her hand.

Eleven took it, like Karen had taught her. "I'm El", she said shyly. 

The boys felt like sighing from relief, while still being alert. 

"Did you just move in here?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes. From Sweden."

Mike wondered, looking at the girl next to him in awe, how good her memory actually was.

"Wow...Why did your family move in here? Or is it personal?", the girl added fast, not wanting to sound nosy.

Eleven shook her head. "I got adopted. By Jim Hopper."

The boys looked more and more surprised, by every word she said. They were glad that Jennifer's attention wasn't on them. Otherwise she would've noticed their expressions, and none of them looked cool.

"The chief, alright", the girl nodded with a friendly, interested smile on her face. "Are you coming to our school?"

"In fall, yes", Eleven gave her a small smile back. "I need to learn the language better, first."

"You're so good at it already", Jennifer complimented her. Then she glanced at her own friends, waiting back at their table. "I think I should head back now", she told Eleven, looking apologetic. 

"Okay", Eleven said slowly, blinking at her.

"But wait", Jennifer got something out of her small bag, offering it to the other girl. "Here. If you want to, I don't know, hang out sometimes, call me?", she said, smiling shyly. "I could help you with English, too, if you'd like?"

"That would be nice, thank you", Eleven said slowly, taken aback by her friendliness. After Jennifer left, she looked down at the card in her hand, wondering what it really was. There was a name and a number on it.

She turned to the boys, who stared at her in awe.

"How is that even--?"

"What was that--?"

"W-what just happened?"

"Did you just...make a new friend?", Will asked the girl. "Just sitting there?". He smiled at her, so broadly, that Eleven felt even more confused.

"A friend?", she asked, glancing at them all.

"Yeah", Lucas laughed. "A friend."

"How did you come up with all that?", Mike asked, making her turn to him. "The answers, and so fast?"

"We agreed on them", Eleven told him. "With Jim and Joyce."

"OH!", Will exclaimed, turning all heads to him. "You haven't told them?", he asked her.

"About what?", Dustin asked, leaning over the table a little more.

"My name", Eleven confirmed, and Will nodded. "I chose it", she told the rest of the boys.

"I told her all of yours, by the way", Will sniggered. "The whole names."

"You didn't..", Lucas said slowly, eyes wide.

"Why are you laughing at my name?", Dustin asked Will, who laughed a little more.

"I'm not", the boy tried to assure his friends.

But Mike turned to Eleven, his eyebrows high behind his bangs, which he had tried to brush off his face earlier. 

"El?", he got out. "You're keeping it?", he asked softly, suddenly feeling very embarrassed.

Eleven nodded. "E-l-l-e", she told him. "But it's still El. I am."

"She's Elle Jane Hopper, now", Will told the boys, too excited to wait any longer. "She'll soon get the papers, which confirm that and the fact, that she belongs with us", he said excitedly. "She can't be taken away anymore."

And suddenly, Mike felt like crying. 

It was like a rock, with sharp edges and heavy weight, that had rolled off his heart. 

Dustin came from around the table, to hug Eleven, Lucas doing the same. The girl smiled and laughed with the two boys, but kept glancing at the one on her other side. She stretched her hand out for Mike, and he took it. 

Then came a song, one that they had practiced dancing with earlier, and Lucas pulled Eleven up from her chair. Mike dropped his hand, glaring at Lucas.

"I'm taking her, Wheeler", the boy told Mike, face serious. "And there's nothing you can do about it!" Then he turned to Eleven, who looked back at him with wide eyes and confusion, because of the sudden movement. 

"We need to celebrate this!", Lucas said before he dragged her away, Dustin following them with the same enthusiasm. 

Mike and Will sat in their places, watching after their friends. 

 

Lucas and Dustin had taken Eleven to the side of the dance floor, so they had a clear vision of them. 

Mike leaned his chin on his hand, elbow on the table and a small smile on his face, watching the trio on the dance floor. 

Will moved one chair closer, sitting down next to him.

"I still can't believe this", he breathed out, watching their friends. "That we're all here."

"I know", Mike nodded against his hand.

Dustin danced like there was no tomorrow, making them chuckle every now and then. Lucas danced even better than usually, showing off his moves a little more than the two saw necessary. But they relaxed Eleven, apparently, with their goofiness. She danced, laughed, and looked happy.

Mike found it hard to tear his eyes away from her. 

Little did he know, that it was the same for Will, only with a different person.

 

A couple of songs later the trio returned, having gone to fetch another set of drinks for the whole group first. Eleven sat down, on the other side of Mike this time, radiating happiness. She placed a mug before him with a soft smile.

"Did you have fun?", he asked, to which she nodded.

"You want to dance?", she asked him, leaning closer.

"I'm not good at it, you know that", Mike chuckled, "I would probably embarrass you."

"It's not like that", Eleven told him, furrowing her eyebrows.

Mike shrugged, then his face lit up. "You want to go try the photo booths?", he asked. "The lines aren't that long, at least not yet. Most want to go, but only before leaving."

"Yes", Eleven smiled, taking his hand. 

 

Mike led her through the room, heart beating in unsteady rhythm. There was a row of the rental booths by the door, and he went to the last one to get some privacy. 

He opened the curtain, letting Eleven get in first, before drawing it closed behind him.

"Now", he begun. "It takes four pictures at a time", he told her. "We can take as many as we want, I have enough coins", he assured her. Or himself, he wasn't sure.

"We both get them?", Eleven confirmed.

"Yeah", Mike nodded, then pointed at the camera. "We just look here and wait for the flashes. You're supposed smile, make faces, or something like that."

And they tried. First set of pictures consisted of one with both of them eyes closed, one where they both had goofy smiles, one where Mike grinned while Eleven looked at him, and the last with Eleven grinning and Mike laughing, while he was looking at her. 

"Oh man", Mike laughed. "What's wrong with us?", he asked, pointing at the first picture.

"I wasn't ready", Eleven told him seriously. She studied the pictures for a while, before turning to him. "Let's try again."

"As many times as you want", Mike told her, putting in another coin. "But they're supposed to be funny, okay? So it's fine if they get messed up."

They planned that time, taking one smiley one at first, then one serious one. On the third they cracked up and on the fourth she had turned to Mike, hiding against his shoulder and both of them laughing.

"You can't laugh", Eleven told him, as both of them studied the pictures. "It makes me laugh, too."

But Mike loved the last picture. "Sorry", he apologized, glancing at her with a smile tugging at his lips. She compared the two sets, before pointing at the one were they both smiled.

"I like this", Eleven told him, turning her head to look at him and bonking it with his while doing so. "Oh."

"Sorry", Mike winced, bringing his hand to her forehead. "Does it hurt?"

She shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah?", he confirmed. 

Then there was a loud bang outside of the booth, which startled them both. "No kissing, guys!", Dustin informed them, before opening the curtain.

"We weren't kissing", Mike told him immediately, blushing, and lowered his hand from her forehead.

"You want to take pictures?", Eleven asked the three.

Will looked back at her, smiling uncomfortably, while Lucas and Dustin nodded.

"How can we even all fit in here?", Mike asked, motioning to the small space.

"Take El to your lap, I don't know", Dustin suggested. "The point is, we need pictures of us."

No one could argue with that.

 

So, as awkward as it was, Mike scooted over. And Eleven sat on his lap sideways, her back against the side of the booth so his face would show in the pictures. Dustin sat next to them, while Will and Lucas kneeled on the floor.

The pictures turned out weird, goofy, and fun. Just like them.

Mike opened Eleven's hand, lifting up only her index and middle finger and moved it behind Will's head. With a grin on his face, he did the same to Lucas. They found out later, while sitting at a table and going through the numerous sets of pictures, that Dustin was the only one without bunny ears in that picture. 

Will and Lucas sat there, making silly faces at the camera. Meanwhile, Mike and Eleven had leaned forward, both of them stretching out their hands, their fingers showing behind the two boys heads. And Dustin did the same for the two of them, making a goofy face for the camera, looking really proud of himself. 

"We need to get these, but larger", Lucas kept laughing, pointing at Dustin's face. "Look at him!"

"Jonathan could probably do it, somehow", Will said chuckling, looking at the rest of the pictures.

Mike had saved the ones of just him and Eleven, keeping them safe in his chest pocket.

Eleven glanced at the clock, then back at Mike. It was way past eight already. She put a hand on his arm, gaining his attention. "You want to dance?", she asked him.

And because it was so sudden and out of the blue, Mike nodded. 

 

Once they got to the dance floor, the music immediately slowed down. 

Mike heard Dustin cheer at them.

"I don't know how to dance to this", Eleven told him, eyes wide.

Mike blushed, coming a bit closer. "Me neither, just..", he glanced at the other pairs, Eleven doing the same.

But she was once again faster than him. She brought her hands to rest on his shoulders, before he even understood what was happening. Mike turned to look down at her, before bringing his own hands, slowly, to her waist.

_~ Close your eyes and think of me_  
_And soon I will be there_  
_To brighten up even your darkest nights. ~_

Eleven smiled at him, and he immediately knew she had been listening to the lyrics, too. 

_~ You just call out my name_  
_And you know where ever I am_  
_I'll come running to see you again. ~_

Mike had heard the song hundreds of times, or more. It was easily over ten years old already. But he understood it, the meaning of it, while studying the face before him.

_~ Winter, spring, summer, or fall_  
_All you got to do is call_  
_And I'll be there.._  
_You've got a friend. ~_

Eleven felt really special, dancing there with Mike in a way she hadn't danced with anyone else. They swayed on their place, slowly turning around, but it made her head dizzy in a completely different way. 

Mike looked at her, eyes cast down because of their height difference. 

...high cheekbones, the turn of her nose.. Mike tried to take it all in. Her lashes were even longer than normally because of mascara, making her eyes even prettier if possible. He swallowed hard.

Eleven liked his freckles. She liked his dark brown eyes, which studied her with such an intensity that it made her heart beat even faster. And his dark brown hair, a little shorter than it had been when they had first met, which called for her hands, for touch.

_~ People can be so cold_  
_They'll hurt you and desert you_  
_Well, they'll take your soul if you let them_  
_Oh yeah, but don't you let them. ~_

Mike tightened his grip, as Eleven slid her hands up from his shoulders and to the back of his head. She slowly touched his hair, her fingers gentle, shy even, sending sparks down his spine. 

He felt his cheeks heat up as he stared at her. She looked a little past him, at her hands, before she blinked and her eyes met his.

_~ You just call out my name_  
_And you know where ever I am_  
_I'll come running to see you again. ~_

He felt like kissing her. Like this would be the best moment to do so. He swallowed hard, embarrassed by his thoughts. 

Mike couldn't stop thinking about how tense and forced his hands felt, where they rested against her waist. He breathed out slowly, before brushing his fingers against the material of her dress.

And immediately he felt the need to cast his gaze away from her, and also inwardly beat himself up for his nervousness.

_~ Ain't it good to know you've got a friend. ~_

She studied his lips, which were a little parted, before locking her eyes with his again.

_~ Ain't it good to know you've got a friend. ~_

"Thank you", she told him softly.

_~ You've got a friend. ~_

"For what?", he asked, voice thick. 

"For taking me to the snow ball."

It was the final seconds of the song, when he finally mustered the courage and leaned down, briefly placing his lips on hers. It was soft and over too soon for both of their liking, but neither of them complained.

"Thank you", he cleared his throat, "for coming together with me."

 

The boys wouldn't stop teasing them, having seen the whole thing and still continuing with it while they waited for Nancy and Jonathan on the outside.

Lucas jumped around Mike, making kissing noises.

"Mike and El, sitting in a tree..", he sang. 

Mike tried to swat him away.

"You're so childish", Will laughed at his friends.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G", Dustin had joined Lucas now.

"Cut it out!", Mike frowned, cheeks red.

Eleven tried to drape her coat tighter around her, shivering from cold.

"They'll come soon", Will told her, rubbing her arms through her coat sleeves. "They said that they'll be here at nine."

"R-really?", she asked him.

"Just stop it already", Mike told his friends, taking his scarf off his neck and putting it around Eleven's. "Better?", he asked her, softness back in his voice, arranging the scarf over the one she already had.

She nodded, while still trembling. Her jacket didn't cover her legs, which were basically bare despite the thin tights she had on them.

"Group hug, guys, group hug", Dustin suggested, gathering them all around her.

Lucas breathed warm air on her face, which smelled like the punch, making her giggle. 

Mike dropped his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes, and feeling content. 

It was quiet, peaceful, and he felt like everything in the world was better than before. 

"It's snowing", Will gasped after a while, making everyone look up into the dark sky.

"That's snow?", Eleven wondered out loud. 

She followed with her eyes how the white plumps slowly fell from the dark night sky, only to meet the ground. 

It reminded her of the air in the upside down, of the white stuff floating in the air which had felt bad to breath. But this...It was beautiful. 

It felt safe.

A honk of a car startled them. Nancy peered through the window, clearly laughing at them. Jonathan leaned over her to see them, too, with a huge smile on his face.

 

Nancy dropped Lucas and Dustin to their homes first. Then they drove to the Wheeler house, where the adults had been waiting for them. 

No one commented the double scarfs on Eleven, or Mike's completely bare neck. No one commented how Nancy and Jonathan fled upstairs either, almost immediately after getting out of their outer clothing.

Karen brought the kids hot chocolates, after they sat down at the dining room table with the adults.

"We were having a late feast", Joyce explained to the children, who stared at the different kinds of foods on the table. 

"Can I take one?", Eleven asked, pointing at a pile of pastries before her.

"Of course, honey!", Karen hurried to tell her, while offering all three of them clean plates.

"Thank you", she said, while carefully choosing one. Karen stopped to stroke her cheek, before returning to her place.

"She's so polite", Ted noted, turning to her wife. "And then there's our children", he nodded towards Mike, who looked back at him with a blank face.

"I didn't do anything", he defended himself, taking a pastry, too.

"That's exactly what I mean", his father sighed. 

"Mike's polite, too", Will said, feeling the need to defend his friend.

"Good", Ted nodded to the boys. "Well, did you have fun?"

"Did you dance?", Karen continued.

"Did you spike the punch?", Jim chuckled, making Will and Mike laugh, too.

"Spike the punch?", Eleven questioned.

"Put alcohol in it", Will explained, tearing a piece off of a roll. 

Eleven looked at Jim with such seriousness and a frown on her face, that it made the man laugh even more.

"Honey, it was a joke", he laughed. "You're not even allowed to drink alcohol."

"Okay", she said, before smiling a little to him, making him know she was fine.

"But yeah, El danced", Will told the adults, "with Lucas and Dustin."

"Awww", Joyce coo'd, smiling at the girl. "I wish I could've seen that."

"I danced with Mike, too", Eleven said, turning to look at Will. "To that slow song."

"Yeah, but that's different", he told her in a small voice. 

"Why?", she asked, glancing at Mike, who sat on the opposite side of them and next to his father.

He was red.

 _You slow dance with people you like_ , Will told her through their minds, not wanting to embarrass her and Mike even more. _That was like...kissing him in front of everyone here, you admitting that out loud._

 _Oh_ , was the only thing she could think about.

 _Yeah_ , Will answered to her.

And that was the first time, that the whole lot of them saw Eleven blush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Hope you liked my version of the ball!
> 
>  
> 
> And guys..... A QUESTION IF I MAY. Do you want me to keep referring to her as Eleven or El (..or as Elle) ? --> Like: "Eggo", El said.
> 
> I need honest answers, seriously. Calling her Eleven makes me feel a little bad :( I hope you take time to answer this, because it'll affect you as a reader, too. 
> 
> \- preciousbean


	16. Take these broken wings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I kind of decided to take a weekend-off, concentrating on other things than writing. 
> 
> But, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS! I love reading them and try to respond to them as soon as I get the mail, just for you to know how much they mean to me. Oh, and thank you for the kudos, too. ❤ - preciousbean

**Take these broken wings**

 

"El!", Will shouted. "Come on!"

The girl hurriedly stuffed on her boots, before running outside. The whole ground was white, after it had snowed all night long. 

They had stayed up a lot longer than usually, watching the snow together from the window. Joyce hadn't even had the heart to usher the two to bed, she had just let them be. 

Besides, the holidays had just begun.

El scooped up snow from the ground, watching it with amazement. She stood there, ankle deep, and it took her breath away.

Then a lump of snow smacked against her arm. She looked at the spot, then at Will with wide eyes. "Why did you do that?", she asked him slowly, scrunching her nose.

Will immediately looked alarmed. "It's..snow fighting?", he tried. "You make snowballs, like this", he showed the girl, who copied him, "then you throw them at each other."

And El immediately threw one at him, which landed in the middle of his chest.

"Show him, El!", Jonathan called from the porch, wrapped up in a jacket, with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"That's not fair!", Will laughed, "did you use your powers for that? To aim?", he asked, scooping up more snow.

The girl shrugged, making another ball already.

"Come on!", he laughed, trying to aim the next one better. She easily moved aside from it's way. 

Then she threw the next one, hitting his shoulder with it.

"We're on the same team, later today, right?", Will called to her. They had agreed to meet the boys for a snow fight in the noon.

"If you get better", she called back.

Jonathan chuckled at them, shaking his head. "Your teams will be uneven", he told the pair. Then he watched El hit his brother again, after Will's ball had barely touched her. "I don't think you even need a team, sis!"

"She's using her powers!", Will tried again, laughing breathlessly while running away from her. 

When he turned around, ready to continue the battle, he got a small snow storm at him. Will slumped down, covering his face.

"That was using powers", he heard El say, before removing his hands from his face to look at her. 

She smiled, ever so innocently at him.

Will surged forward then, tackling her to the ground, both of them laughing. He got off of her and tried to cover her in snow, leaving only her head alone.

"It's cold", El said, with a frown on her face. 

"I know", Will laughed. "You started this fight."

"You started it", she corrected him.

"Oh...but you made it worse with your trick", he said, sniggering. 

El lifted her mitten clad hand then, covered in snow, and patted the middle of his face with it.

"Ew!", Will shrieked, rolling away from her.

They continued that, playing and rolling around. 

Will then showed her how to make snow angels. He made his own first, clumsily getting up from the ground afterwards. He watched El make one, before pulling her up to look at their snow art together.

 

At noon, the children had gathered to the Wheeler house. Nancy and Mike were on Holly watch, as Karen was doing some last minute Christmas shopping.

"We're going to watch a movie", Nancy said, motioning between her and Jonathan. "And I don't think Holly will like our choice."

"Huh? No way", Mike tried, "we're going outside."

"Yeah? Just take her with you."

"No!"

Holly looked between her siblings, who continued arguing, before she pulled at El's hand. 

El lowered herself on the same level with her, looking at the toddler with her warm, brown eyes. 

"Yes, Holly?"

"I want to go out."

"We are having a snow fight", El said softly, eyeing the girl.

"I want to play, too", the toddler insisted.

El looked up at the arguing siblings. Then she looked at Jonathan, Will, Lucas, and Dustin, who all looked as confused as she felt.

"Holly will go out with us", she raised her voice then, bringing everyone's attention to her.

"See?", Nancy said to her brother.

Mike turned to El, sighing. "We're having a snow fight, El", he said, looking apologetic. "She can't keep up."

"Holly's on my team", El said strongly, getting up and tugging the girl along with her to get dressed, casting one last look at Mike and Nancy.

Jonathan laughed at the siblings' faces.

Nancy gaped at him, eyes wide. "Was she..mad?", she whispered.

"I don't know", Jonathan shrugged, but kept smiling. El wasn't the type to get mad from such small things, he knew it. It was more like making a point. 

"What just happened?", Mike asked in panic, looking at the doorway through which El and Holly had just went.

"You just made your girlfriend angry", Lucas told him, sniggering.

"And I just thought that you were doing so great", Dustin sighed dramatically.

Mike turned to Will for help, who raised an eyebrow at him before following the girls.

"Guys?", Mike panicked before following Dustin and Lucas, who had went after their first two friends.

 

They stopped next to Will, who stood next to the stairs, giving the girls some space and privacy. 

El was helping Holly to dress, while slowly putting on her own winter clothes, too. 

"--then we can make a castle, right? Like a princess castle", Holly babbled to the older girl.

"A princess castle?", El asked, while fixing Holly's long hair and trying to get it better under the clothing. 

It was hard, as she had never had long hair herself, but she had somewhat gotten used to it already. She had also gotten used to dressing the toddler, as it was something she did almost every day.

"Where princesses live, guarded by dragons", Holly continued. "We can both be princesses, El. Right?"

"Right", the girl nodded, smiling a little. She had no idea what the toddler was talking about, and the boys could see it from her face. 

Dustin muffled a laugh, while Lucas and Will kept smiling at El's confusion.

"We can help you build the castle", Mike offered shyly, startling everyone in the room. "Then we can have a snow fight, together", he continued. He searched El's eyes for approval, for something.

She simply nodded, before turning back to the toddler in front of her.

The boys sighed with relief and got dressed too, before all the six of them headed to the large back yard. 

 

And they did start with the castle, which turned out to be more of a wall. The outcome didn't really matter, as Holly was still amazed by it. 

They then divided into two teams, Will joining the girls behind the wall while the three boys fetched and then turned a few wheelbarrows to their sides for cover.

They agreed on the rules: hit to the back was a kill. No ice-balls, no face-hits.

"I'm not sure he knows what he did wrong", Will told El, while they had a few minutes to get ready.

El pouted slightly, while making new snowballs.

"We just have to beat them", he suggested, to both of the girls. "Then you'll feel better, right?"

Holly looked at him with innocent eyes, already having forgotten the episode between her siblings. 

But El looked like she was ready for battle.

And as it turned out, she was merciless. She bombed the boys with such speed, force, and accuracy, that they weren't at the end even sure if she had told them the truth about her powers or not.

 

Inside, Nancy and Jonathan had put on a movie and were relaxing on the couch. They could hear the shouts from the outside.

"Remember what it was like?", Nancy asked then, glancing out of the window. "To get so excited about snow?"

Jonathan let out a low chuckle. "Yeah. But you should've seen Will and El in the morning, even I almost joined them."

"Why didn't you?", she turned to him, offering him a curious smile.

"I'm not sure", he said slowly, eyeing her. "Seemed like their thing, I guess."

Nancy cast her eyes down, to her lap, before turning back to the tv.

She was sometimes too hard to read for him. But he knew her, so he also knew when to shut up and give her time. 

Even though the correct term probably was, that he was 'learning', instead of 'knowing' her. She kept surprising him, both in good and bad ways, offering him something new about herself each passing week.

"I don't know what my thing is", Nancy said suddenly. Her voice was weak, uncertain.

"Me neither."

"No", she frowned at the screen. Her eyes followed the movie, but she didn't see it. "You take photos, you like music, you're good at drawing, too...", she trailed off, beginning to sound a little hysterical.

"Hey, stop", Jonathan pleaded her softly, taking her hand in his. "You can do anything you want to", he whispered to her, stroking her soft skin with his thumb.

"I don't _know_ what I want to do", Nancy bit out.

Once again, she was trying to keep herself from crying. Like she thought that she wouldn't be strong anymore if she cried, which was not true. She was one of the strongest persons he knew.

And the only thing he could do, was hold her hand. 

 

Mike and Dustin tried to fill the piles of snowballs, behind their cover.

"Fast, fast!", Lucas hurried them, trying to keep a look-out for the other team, peeking from behind their cover. He saw the top of Holly's hat, and then Will's hand, as he kept throwing balls at them. 

But he didn't see El, anywhere.

"Oh no, guys", he begun, "I can't see El!"

"What?", Dustin asked, peeking out from behind their cover, too.

"I can't see her", Lucas hissed at him. Then he felt a smash on his back, and turned to see El throw two other balls at Dustin's and Mike's backs.

"You're all out", the girl told them seriously, patting her mittens against each other and trying to get the rest of the snow off them. "Too easy."

The boys looked at her with such horror and disbelief, that it made her smile.

"We won!", El told Will and Holly then, who cheered back.

"No way", Lucas slumped down. "We got beat by two girls and Will."

"Yeah", Dustin nodded, looking at the girl in awe. "But El got the kills."

The three boys shook their heads, in defeat. They got up from the ground, wiping snow off of their clothes. 

Dustin and Lucas headed towards Will and Holly, while Mike went to El's side.

"I'm sorry", he said shyly. "If I did something that got you mad, you know, before."

She walked slowly towards the house, eyes on the ground. "You were stupid. To Holly", she told him finally. "You both were. It's not nice."

"That's what siblings do", Mike said slowly, brows furrowed. "They fight, and stuff."

El couldn't agree with that. What she had with Will and Jonathan, it was different. But they still called her their sister, and she saw them as her brothers. She frowned, but decided not to comment on it. 

"You didn't ask what she wanted", El pointed out. "That's not nice."

"I know", he sighed, turning to look at her in worry. "Don't be mad, please?"

She noticed his stare and turned to look at him, too. 

"When was I? Mad?"

"Wait.." Mike stopped on his place, and so did she. "You weren't mad?"

El shook her head, an innocent smile forming on her face.

"No way", he breathed out, before chuckling. "You scared the shit out of me."

She frowned.

"It's just a phrase", Mike assured her. "But yeah, I thought you were mad, like really mad."

"You deserved it", she told him, "the scare." Then she turned, and continued the walk towards the house. The rest stood by the door, waiting for them.

Mike stared at her back, mouth wide open. He needed his revenge. 

So he ran to her, pulling her to the snow with him.

"Oh!", they heard Lucas exclaim, accompanied with loud clapping.

"Mike!", El got out, shocked.

But he begun stuffing snow under her jacket, and she started squirming under him.

"No! Mike!", she tried to stop him, pushing his hands away, despite laughing. It was cold, but for some reason it tickled. "M-mike! Stop!"

"You deserved it", he told her, copying her words, tinted with his breathless laughter. But he stopped nevertheless. 

She laid on the ground beneath him as he had situated himself over her legs, stopping her from getting away.

"Don't ever scare me like that, okay?", he begged then, being serious. "Promise?"

"Promise", she nodded. Then she begun emptying her jacket of the snow, giggling at the sight. 

Mike helped her, before getting up from the ground and pulling her up, too. 

 

When they got inside, the others had already started to undress, putting their wet clothes around the basement to dry. Will was helping Holly, along with Lucas who took the girl's clothes to dry. 

The two started doing the same, Mike being silently teased by the boys the whole time behind El's back. 

El looked down at her wet sweater, before turning to Mike with a frown. 

"I'm sorry", he said, looking embarrassed.

"I'm cold", she told him.

"You can borrow one of mine", he suggested, gaining a nod from her before rushing upstairs.

"I think that was his plan all along", Dustin grinned at her.

"Why?", El asked, feeling confused.

Lucas laughed and shook his head, while arranging their shoes to the bathroom so that the whole floor wouldn't be flooded. Will offered her a smile while shrugging, so she turned back to Dustin.

Dustin looked back at her, amused. "I love how dense you both are", he chuckled. 

Then Mike returned, coming to her with a sweater in his hands. 

El eyed him, trying to figure out why getting her clothes wet and then borrowing his sweater would count as a plan. But she took off the one she had been wearing, revealing a soaked shirt underneath it.

"Um", Mike gulped. Then he blushed. 

"It's fine", El told him, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to cover the wet spots.

"Just...just come with me, I'll let you borrow a shirt, too", he told her, motioning upstairs. "You can change in my room."

And she followed him upstairs, Holly not far behind.

"You didn't need to come", Mike told his sister.

"Lucas told me to", Holly chirped, happily bouncing after them.

Mike muttered something, getting even redder than before. El saw the blush, as she eyed him while walking behind him. She thought it was cute.

 

He rummaged through his clothes and offered her a long sleeved shirt, leaving the room afterwards to go back to their friends downstairs.

"We'll make hot chocolate!", he told her, while already on his way downstairs, Holly following him. El was quite sure that she heard them bicker.

That was when she noticed it, the stone on the top of his dresser. She caressed it's smooth surface with a finger, while a small smile tugged her lips. 

He had got it.

She put on the long sleeved, then the sweater, basking in the warmth. The sleeves were long and so was the sweater in all it's glory. She took her shirt to dry to the basement with the rest of her clothes, before joining the boys and Holly in the kitchen.

 

"Warm?", Will asked as she came to stand next to him, both of them leaning against the kitchen island.

"Yes", she nodded, turning to watch their friends.

Holly came to her then, taking El's hand and twirling on her place. Sometimes the girl just had so much energy, and El didn't, so she simply let her twirl. The toddler didn't mind and neither did she.

"Don't burn it", Lucas advised, while Dustin stirred the milk in the pot.

"That's why I'm stirring it", Dustin said. "So it won't burn."

"Lower the heat", Mike told the boys. 

"I know what I'm doing", Dustin told him. "Thank you for your trust, once again."

"He makes the best hot chocolate", Will whispered to El. "Those two just won't admit it."

"Really?", she asked. 

Holly wanted to do an easy back flip and took both of El's hands and walked up her legs, before turning around and letting go.

"It's the best", Will nodded, chuckling at Holly as the girl kept swirling and turning around before them. 

"I like hot chocolate", El told him, looking at him with wide, excited eyes.

Will chuckled. "With whipped cream or without?"

"Both."

"With or without marshmallows?"

"Both."

"Better than coffee?", he asked then, laughing.

El frowned. "It tasted like fur."

"Yeah?", Will laughed even more. "Chewy kisses?"

"What kisses?", Mike asked, and the two turned to their friends.

"El tasted Jonathan's coffee last weekend", Will told them, chuckling as he spoke. "She said it tasted like Chewy's kisses."

"What?", Lucas said. He looked offended. "I like coffee."

El looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed. "It tasted like fur", she repeated.

Holly made a face then. "Eww", she said, giggling. 

"It doesn't", Lucas frowned. "You had bad coffee."

"But you like hot chocolate, right?", Dustin asked, starting to pour the hot drink into six mugs.

"Yes", she said, coming to watch what he did.

 

They settled into the living room, as Nancy and Jonathan had finished their movie already. 

Deciding on a Christmas classic, they relaxed back while covered in blankets, sipping their warm drinks.

Holly dozed of soon, resting her head on El's side, the mug dangerously unsteady in her hands. El levitated it slowly onto the coffee table, gaining a few amused glances from around her.

"I couldn't move", she told the boys.

"It just looks so easy", Lucas told her. "It wasn't that easy a year ago."

El still remembered the blood and the humming in her head, of course she did. 

"I practiced", she answered to Lucas softly, who sat next to her.

The boys had been watching her, and they had noticed the way she had tensed before she let the words out.

"You still haven't told us what happened", Dustin begun in a low voice, "during the time you were gone."

"You don't need to, if you don't want", Mike hurried say from his place on the floor with Dustin, before the sofa she was situated on. 

He knew a little, from the memories she had shown him back at the hospital, and so did Will.

El nodded, glancing at the girl sleeping next to her. 

_She won't hear_ , Will's voice assured her. 

He was on the other side of Lucas but his mind was there, offering her comfort she hadn't known she would ever need. Not before last year, before getting to know her friends and her new family.

"I want to tell you", she whispered to the boys. She breathed in slowly, then out, draping her arm around sleeping Holly and covering the ear that didn't rest against her side.

"They tried to get me", she whispered, knowing that they knew who she meant. "I didn't want to do it...but I didn't want to go back."

The boys stared at her, all of them wearing the same, scared expression. And not because they were scared of her, but for her.

"How many?", Dustin asked, worry making his voice sound strange, even to himself.

It was something he had expected, to be honest. He, nor the rest of the boys, just hadn't want to hear it. Hearing it made it real, hurtfully real.

"Too many."

"But they stopped, right?", Lucas asked her. "They destroyed the gate in spring."

"Yes", El whispered. "But..", she choked on her words. 

Will poured a little more of his feelings to her, through the connection. It was like a mental hug, and she kept going. 

"There are others." She lifted her sleeve to show the tattoo on her wrist, after seeing their blank expressions.

"No", Dustin said then, shaking his head slowly. "No...They put kids after you? Seriously? Into the upside down?"

She nodded, silencing the room.

"Three, Four, and Nine", she got out.

The boys looked at her, like she was speaking in another language.

"I met them", she told them, before a tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.

Lucas wrapped an arm around her shoulders, glancing at the other boys.

"They're like you?", Dustin asked her. "They can do the same things?"

She shook her head. "Different things."

Mike brought his hand to her lap, to clasp it around hers. She squeezed back, so tight that he felt like crying. He could feel the build up emotion in her. It hurt him, to be so...so inadequate.

"Did you talk to them?", he asked her softly. "Trying to get them to change their minds?"

"Yes", she smiled for a split second. "They were with army."

"They're weapons", Dustin said.

"I was one, too", El whispered.

"Weapons against what?", Lucas asked her.

"Can't say", she shook her head. "If you know...It's dangerous."

"How did you learn the mind thing?", Dustin asked then, confused.

"I could do a little, before, but...", she whispered. "But, there was one. I understood it, how it works."

"Which one?", Dustin asked. "What else could he do?"

"No one of them. Someone in...in the lab", she told them, breathing in deeply. "He tried to force me to go back."

"But you fought him", Will said softly.

"I did", she nodded. "Months."

"Months?", Lucas asked, horrified.

"He could bring me out, force me to walk", El told them. "I pushed him out, but he come back", she swallowed hard. "Then... It was back. The Demogorgon", she whispered. "It was back."

None of the boys knew what to say. 

The monster had only been a week of their lives, nevertheless bringing more or less terror to each of them. 

They stared at her with teary eyes, trying to stay strong for her.

"I couldn't...", she choked. Her hand trembled despite being clasped tight with Mike's. "He made me walk, to go back there, b-before...", she whispered, before turning to a napping Holly by her side. 

She moved from under their blanket, wrapping her separately away from her, before turning back to the boys.

El offered her hands to them, breathing hard and tears slowly falling down her cheeks. 

They knew what she meant. 

Mike and Dustin took hold of the hand closer to them, Will and Lucas of the other. Dustin and Lucas hadn't experienced it yet and it would be hard for them, but this was the only way for them to truly understand.

"Are you sure?", she whispered. "That you want to know?"

"Yeah, El", Mike told her, stroking her hand from where he hold it.

"We're here for you", Dustin nodded.

She glanced at Lucas, who offered her a small smile. 

Then she looked at Will. _You can let go_ , she told him. _You don't need to. Not anymore._

 _No_ , he told her strongly. _I need to know._

"Ready?", she asked then, her voice thin. 

All of the boys nodded, none of them sure if they really were. 

She closed her eyes and concentrated, bringing all of them with her to the memory.

 

_She stood in the middle of a road, in complete darkness. There was a voice, a strong will inside of her head, trying to move her forward._

_'Walk', it repeated nonstop, like a mantra._

_She cried, rubbing her scalp violently, trembling with shock and concentration. She took a step back, slowly, only to feel the tightness in her head again._

_She couldn't breath properly, it hurt so bad._

_Then she heard it. The screams of the monster from behind her. She wanted to turn around, to see where it was, to defend herself, but she couldn't._

_'Walk', the voice commanded her, making her take a few trembling steps. It made her nauseous._

_The screams neared her, every second. She couldn't turn around._

_"No", she rasped out, before her mouth clamped shut with force._

_Her tongue hurt, making her eyes burn. She could taste the blood._

_She tried to push out the intruder, tried to turn around. And her head... it burned._

_The pain was so bad, that she wasn't sure if she could stand it much longer._

_The screams were close._

_Then, combined with her will and the force inside of her head, she twirled around, almost falling to the ground. She steadied herself with a hand, the gravel scratching the skin of her palm._

_There were nothing but darkness, her hitched breathing, and the predatory screams._

_She trembled, trying to run away but the force inside of her head hadn't left. It had clawed its way deep, hurting her._

_And now it wanted to see the monster._

_She felt him, curious like a child. Probably not caring to risk her life for a peek of the unknown._

_She tried to fight him, while staring at the road before her._

_It was like a long string, what he had wrapped around her brain. She could usually open it, throw it away, but not this time. He had knotted it tight, keeping it in its place, no matter how hard she fought him._

_She felt how blood fell down from her nose and ears, tickling on its way down. He didn't let her wipe it off._

_Then she saw the shadow, nearing her from the side of the road, coming from the woods._

_She cried as it came to her, growling and screaming with delight to get her like this. To get her outside of the safe house she had been in for days straight._

_It had been waiting for her._

_Her hand trembled and raised, not courtesy of her but the intruder in her head. She tried to scream, to unleash all the power she had, but she couldn't. She couldn't even open her mouth._

_The only thing she could do was hum, as loud as her throat allowed her to, with her mouth closed. But it made breathing through the nose harder._

_The monster neared her, opening its mouth in front of her outstretched hand. It growled and attacked, but got pushed back. Her whole body trembled, as she still tried to escape the mind-bind._

_It came to her again and again. And he, the one controlling her mind and her powers, pushed it back if it got too close._

_He didn't mind letting it touch her, letting it bite, claw, or hurt her. But he didn't let it kill her._

_She kept crying, until she didn't have any tears left._

_She felt the sharp teeth scratch her skin, while its mouth was almost closed around her arm. She felt how the growls vibrated against her skin. And she felt the teeth prickle against her fingers, as she was forced to touch them while the monster stood inches from her face._

_She was close enough to see the blood on them._

 

El pulled her hands away from the boys, getting up and leaving the room.

Mike wiped his tears and ran after her to the basement, leaving his friends behind.

During the few seconds that he didn't see her, he wished that he could still catch her, that she wouldn't disappear. But when he got to her she simply stood there, at the back door, hand on the knob. But she didn't open it. 

She cried, trembling in her place, as Mike stopped behind her.

"Don't, please...don't run away", he pleaded.

She turned to look at him, not moving her hand. "It hurts", she cried.

Her cheeks glistened from tears and he could hear her ragged breathing, see how her lower lip trembled. 

"I-I know", he choked. "But you running away hurts us... It hurts me", he added in a strangled voice.

Her hand dropped from the knob, and she turned to him fully.

It had been low from him, he knew it, but he didn't want her to disappear. If she did he would run after her, no doubt, but he couldn't be _there_ for her. 

And he needed to be there for her.

"H-how long...do I remember?", she asked him, between her sobs. 

"You can't forget", he got out. "But I'm here, we're all here. We'll get you over it."

She offered him a small, watery smile for a few seconds, before it vanished. "You promise?"

"I promise, El", he whispered.

Then she came to him, dropping her face to his shoulder, taking a hold of his shirt. Swallowing hard, Mike pulled her close, wrapping his arms tight around her. He let her cry her heart out to him.

 

It hadn't helped the boys, that Nancy had come to the room as they had tried to collect themselves. 

After noticing how there were only the three of them and saw the sleeping toddler on the couch, she knew that she had no right to intrude. Instead, she carried Holly upstairs.

Jonathan met her on the hallway. "I don't think Holly counts as something sweet", he smiled at her. "I thought you meant cookies or something."

"There's something going on", Nancy whispered to him, after taking Holly to the toddlers own bed.

"What?", he asked and she had reflexes just fast enough to take a hold of his arm, before he bolted downstairs.

"It's not our business", she told him, despite the worried frown on her face. "They are fine, I think... They just talked about, you know...some harder things."

Struggling against his heart, which tried to tell him to go to Will and El, Jonathan turned back to Nancy. After eyeing her for a few long seconds, he nodded. He let her drag him back to her room.

 

Dustin walked back and forth, drying his tears once in a while, eyeing the basement door. Will cried silently, his face covered with his hands, him and Lucas still sitting on the couch. 

And Lucas waited with an arm resting around Will's lower back, staring at the open door that took to the basement, tears flowing down his cheeks.

He hardly cried. 

When he had thought that Will was dead, he had cried the whole night. 

When El had disappeared, and he had been sure that she was dead, he had cried. 

When his father hadn't come home when they had expected him to and no one could reach him, he had cried until being surrounded by the familiar and strong arms again. 

But now, after El had left the room, the first thing he had done was turn to Will. 

And Will had closed his eyes before covering his face with his hands, while tears flowed down his cheeks. Before he had even realized, Lucas had scooted closer to him and was hugging the boy to his side. But it happened after Will turned to him, tucking his head under his chin and let out a soft cry.

Lucas cried then, too.

He was a shitty excuse of a friend, had been at least.

 

After what felt like hours, Mike and El came back up. 

Lucas immediately stood up, with a final stroke of a hand to Will's side, wiping his face as he went to them. He looked at her, realizing that he probably looked just as miserable as she did.

"I'm sorry", Lucas told her, taking a ragged breath. "For everything, okay? For everything."

"It's okay", she whispered, shaking her head.

"I shouldn't have treated you like that", he cried, "I was wrong..."

And El hugged him, resting her hands on his back and patting gently with the other.

"I was wrong, too", she told him. 

That was all it took for him to relax, to hug her back.

"You just tried to keep us safe", he sobbed. "I should've trusted you."

"You did", she whispered.

"Not at first", he closed his eyes tight, mortified. "I didn't at first...I'm...I'm so sorry, El."

Dustin draped his arms around the both of them, bonking his head together with theirs.

"Ouch", Lucas let out a watery laugh.

"You guys are so silly, you know that?", Dustin told them, and they could hear his smile.

El brought her other arm, from between the boys, to fling it around him. "You too, Dustin."

"But I'm sorry, too, El", the boy continued, ruffling her hair. "For you being left alone."

It was what they could apologize for, what made even a little sense to them. They had both given up on her, while she had continued fighting - no matter how hard it had been for her.

"But I'm here", she told them, hugging the both of them tight. "I'm not going anywhere", she turned her eyes to Mike and Will, over Lucas' shoulder, offering them a small smile. "I'm not going anywhere."

After Dustin and Lucas freed her, El went to Will. 

Her brother, who sat in the same place as when she had fled the room, with tears still in his eyes. 

Mike was next to him, patting his back, and glanced at El when she neared them. 

She dropped to the floor in front of Will, on her knees, to be on the same eye level with him.

"You didn't need to do it", she whispered to him, looking at the tears on his cheeks.

"I-I..", Will lifted his gaze to meet her eyes. "I needed to know", he whispered.

And once again, she was reminded of the boy she had looked for from the upside-down. But this boy, this Will, was even stronger than he had been then. 

She initiated the hug, scooting closer on the floor and between his knees, wrapping her arms around his neck. He let out a cry, before hugging her back.

 _I can't let you go through this alone_ , Will's voice filled her head, as he hid his face against her shoulder.

 _Thank you_ , she smiled, closing her eyes and letting her tears fall. _But I'm not alone._


	17. White Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I'm sorry that these are taking a little longer for now! I've been busy with balancing school and work, but it's getting better, I promise. 
> 
> I'm taking a head start to christmas with this chapter. ❤ - preciousbean

**White Christmas**

 

They had agreed on not buying a lot of presents, but to spend time together as a family: the Byers and the two Hoppers, all together for the first time for Christmas.

The house was their present, to all of them. There would be many things to buy, once they'd move in, so the children didn't really mind. 

Well, Jonathan, Will, and El were all quite easy to please, anyway. 

 

El didn't really understand it, the excitement that Will had, no matter how much he and the rest of the boys had tried to explain it to her. 

She had learned about Santa, a man who brought presents to good children. Then she had heard, that it was a made up thing, that it was the parents who really got the presents. They'd then put them under a tree, which branches they had hung a lot of pretty things on. 

It was weird and funny, but she liked it. She liked being with her family.

 

Joyce hag got new pajamas to all of the children, to give on the night before Christmas. 

They changed them on before bed.

"-come on, please mom", Will pleaded, as El got out of the shower and made her way to the kitchen. "The last time was before the scan."

Joyce was just about to answer him, before she noticed the girl in her new white and pink flannel pajamas. "Awww", she smiled.

"It's soft", El smiled, stroking her sleeve shyly. Then she went to give Joyce a hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetie", the woman hugged her back, "ohh, it's really soft, isn't it?" 

Jim also came to stroke El's back, before snatching the girl away from Joyce, making El giggle softly. He cradled her easily in his arms, as he turned to Will. "Find yourself another teddy bear", he told the boy. "I'll keep this one." 

Joyce laughed, bringing up a hand to stroke El's cheek.

"Teddy bear?", El asked confused, looking between the man and a pink cheeked Will.

"I asked if we could sleep in my room tonight", Will mumbled and after Joyce sniggered goodheartedly at him, he continued: "It's not like that! It's just Christmas, alright. We did that with Jonathan, too, when we were smaller." 

El couldn't help but smile at him. That was something they had talked about earlier, and she had to admit that it did sound fun.

"But honey", Joyce begun, coming to stroke his damp hair. "I think we still should wait..."

"I got her out of there", Will told his mother, his voice soft but certain, "and if I go back there with her, I can get her out again. I know I can."

El leaned her cheek against Jim's, who's beard prickled her face. "He's fine now", she agreed.

"What's going on?"

Jonathan stood in the doorway to the kitchen. He got flannel pants mixed with a long sleeved shirt in the same way like Will had, and while his were red and grey, his little brother's were green and grey. 

He looked from embarrassed looking Will to his amused mother, and then to Jim who was apparently holding El in his arms. "What did I miss?"

"Letting them both sleep in Will's room", Joyce told him, smiling a little.

"Why not?", he asked, before understanding dawned on him. "Oh."

They didn't have a sure answer, to which one of the two had managed to get El out from the upside down. Without a gate, or a portal, or something. Jonathan had thought about it with Nancy. And while they had come to the conclusion that Will never fully visited upside down again as his body never left their reality, they couldn't understand how he would've been able to bring her back from there. 

Because if they were sure about one thing, it was that El was there with them, completely. 

"Yeah", Jim agreed, letting El down. But she leaned against him, and he hugged her with one arm around her. "That was why on Will's birthday, we would've wanted El to sleep on her own. But we didn't tell you, because we didn't want to worry you."

"You didn't worry about my friends?", Will asked slowly.

"No, no", Joyce shook her head. "We just think, that what ever caused for you to return there, and...and how you brought her back, you know?", she tried to explain.

"It has been safe for you to sleep next to your mom, too", Jim added. Then he turned to Joyce. "So... what do you think?"

The woman sighed, looking at Will and El. Then she lifted her hands up, surrendering with a small smile on her face. "Can't stop you, can I? But you need to sleep, too, alright? No staying up till the morning."

"We know, mom", Will laughed, before hugging her.

 

They settled together in his bed, leaning against the pillows, both being small enough that it fit them quite comfortably. Will glanced at the clock, while grabbing the supercom from the bedside table.

"They should be on the line, any minute now", he told her. The boys had agreed on telling them about what presents they thought they'd be getting on the next day. Like they had done on the years before.

"Will?", El begun softly, looking at the device.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I lost your supercom", she said, eyebrows furrowed.

Will's eyebrows rose a little, before he looked between her and the device in his hands. 

"I didn't mean to", she continued, her voice just above a whisper. "I had it, in my pocket."

"It's fine, El. I'm actually glad I got the new one, the reach of this is much better", he smiled, hoping that his reasoning was enough for her to feel better.

The supercom rattled then, gaining their attention.

_"It's me, Dustin. Do you copy? Over."_

"Will and El here, over", Will said.

_"Lucas here, you're not gonna believe what I just found out! Over."_

Will sniggered, and El smiled. "What is it? Over."

 _"Mike's not here? I want to tell all of you, over"_ , Lucas said.

_"I'm here. Mike I mean, over."_

"What did you want to tell us, Lucas? Over."

_"I'll wait a bit longer, to, you know, built suspension. Over."_

_"Come on, man. Over"_ , Dustin sighed.

El couldn't help the giggle she let out, while Will tried to stay collected as he pressed the button. 

"Just tell us, over."

 _"Alright, alright... I'm getting a little brother! Over"_ , Lucas said, excitement in his voice.

Dustin was the quickest to react. _"Wow! Congrats, man! Over."_

 _"Congratulations, big brother! Over"_ , Mike said.

Will glanced at El, his eyes wide, before pressing the button. "That's, wow, that's great!", Will got out, grinning widely. "Congrats", he added, before El piped in: "I'm happy for you, Lucas". 

Will chuckled, before he continued: "Over!"

 _"Thanks, guys. And El"_ , Lucas added fast. _"What are you getting? Over."_

"A house", El said. "Over."

 _"-hahah! Oh god, you're a precious thing, you know that, El?"_ , Dustin laughed. _"But me, I'm getting a few soft ones, one which could possibly be a new board game - fingers crossed, guys - and some stuff that I have absolutely no clue what they could be. I hope they're not from grandma.. Last year was bad enough. Over."_

 _"You're not getting anything tomorrow, Will and El?"_ , Mike asked then. _"And oh, umm...I'm guessing a few books, soft ones, too, of course. Maybe a new Atari game? Could've been, at least. Over."_

"We got pyjamas, already", El answered, stroking her sleeve. 

"Yeah, mom got El got these really soft ones. Why can't boys have something alike? What's up with that? Over", Will said.

 _"Obviously, your mom likes El better. I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"_ , Lucas laughed, before continuing. _"But hmm, me, other than a baby brother... I don't know. I've got these little presents, and oh - one bigger one. Over."_

 _"Are your pajamas made of rock, Will? Come on, they're are always soft. Over"_ , Mike laughed. 

"Well yeah, the pants, but the shirt is a normal one", Will told them, touching El's sleeve gently. "You should feel this, it's like...I don't know. El's like a teddy--."

"What is a teddy?", she interrupted him, frowning slightly. She still had no idea, as no one had answered her question the first time. And she hoped it was something nice.

"Soft animal, a bear", Will told her, still pressing the button. "Oh, sorry, over."

 _"Why are you feeling her pajamas, Will? Over"_ , Dustin asked.

 _"Yeah man, not cool"_ , Lucas laughed. _"She's your sister. Over."_

Will blushed, while El smiled at the face he was making. "Come on", he whined. "Not fair. Over."

 _"It isn't"_ , Lucas sniggered. _"It should be Mike feeling them, wait, whaaaat"_ , he teased. _"Over."_

It was El's time to blush now, while Will laughed at her reaction.

 _"Please, guys"_ , Mike said. His voice sounded strange to her. _"You're making El uncomfortable. Over."_

 _"Or, are we making you uncomfortable?"_ , Lucas asked. _"Over."_

 _"I'm thinking that it's both, over"_ , Dustin said.

"Stop it", Will laughed. "Over."

 

They continued the chat for a while, while the two of them settled better and were getting more comfortable. After an hour, they closed the devise and Will turned off the rest of the lights. 

The Christmas lights, which he had on his wall around the year, were on and cheery.

"When I got back", El whispered. "I slept the first night in here."

"Yeah?", Will whispered.

"I liked the lights. They made me feel safe." 

It was something, that she hadn't at first realized what it meant. She just knew that she could close her eyes, and she would be fine. 

"That's why I have them."

El nodded. "You think...I could get some, to my room?"

"We have a lot of these", Will said softly. "I think you can have as many as you'd like."

"Good", she whispered.

They were quiet for a while. "El?"

"Hm?"

"What you showed us... What happened to him?", he asked, turning to look at her.

"I don't know", she told him, looking at the lights. "He stopped coming back."

"Good", Will swallowed. "...I'm sorry, for what he did to you."

El eyed him, before a small smile settled on her face. "I'm better now."

"We both are."

She turned to her side then, facing him. "You said, you knew you could get us out...Did you know that, then?", she whispered.

"I don't know", he whispered back. "I just...I know I can keep us safe. I want to keep us safe. All of us."

"You can do things", she glanced at her tattoo, so briefly that he almost missed it, "like the rest of us", she whispered. "That's why we can talk, without me touching you."

"You think?", Will asked. The idea was thrilling. Scary, and foreign, but thrilling. 

El nodded slowly.

"Move things, like you?", his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Maybe", she whispered. "Or something else."

"Can you teach me? Like they taught you."

He then saw pain flash in her eyes, and immediately regretted his question.

She shook her head. "You don't want that."

"I want to learn", he said softly. "I hate feeling this, like, like.. I can't do anything."

"I know", she told him, eyes sincere. "I'll help you. But not like that."

El's eyes begun drooping a little after, and Will suggested for her to just close them.

 

They made breakfast together, the next morning, before Jim had to leave for work.

"Then you just pour it, yes, like that", the man advised El, while they were making pancakes.

"Like making an omelet", she nodded. "Easy."

"What's this?", Jim laughed. "Now I have to start teaching you something harder."

"Cookies, casserole, meatloaf...", the girl listed slowly, making Joyce laugh while she was setting the table. "I have made them."

"When?", Jim chuckled, looking at her in awe.

"With Karen", El said, while slowly flipping the pancake. "But only once."

"She's making her into a proper wife material", Jonathan chuckled, while passing through the tight space to get coffee.

Will laughed, as Joyce playfully slapped her oldest son's arm.

"Ow! Mom?"

"It didn't hurt, don't be a baby, Jonathan."

"Can I do a few?", Will asked, and El switched places with him.

"Let them bubble", she told him, pointing at the next pancake on the way.

Jim went to Joyce then, hugging her close. She rose to her toes, while he leaned down, for a kiss. 

"I'm so happy", he whispered.

"I know", she whispered back, as they turned to watch the kids by the stove.

Jonathan towered over the pair, hands on both of their shoulders. El kept advising Will, who complied, doing a fine job with the pancakes and not burning even one of them.

 

After Jim left for work, the rest of the family gathered to the couch and watched some Christmas classics. 

And even though the three Byers had seen them, Joyce some of them to the boredom, it was worth watching them with El for her first time. Even the boring one's.

 

Will and El decided to go out in the afternoon, taking Chewy with them. Before leaving El had promised Joyce to be in time to help with dinner, gaining a long, tight hug from the woman in return.

It was still bright enough, as the sun had only just begun to set.

"Fetch!", Will told Chewy, throwing a stick as far as he could. 

The dog ran fast, and soon brought the stick back while wagging his tail wildly.

"He likes that?", El asked, confused.

"Yeah", he nodded, throwing the stick again. "Dogs like these things, they're taught to, I guess."

"I didn't know", she said slowly. Will saw the small frown, that had formed on her face.

"There are a lot of things that I don't know, either", he assured her. "You learn these things, as time goes by. I learn a lot by reading, and asking questions of course. And at school."

El nodded. "I can go to school in fall", she said.

"Really?"

"If I pass the exam. Show I know the same things, that you know", she frowned, kicking the snow while walking.

"How far are you now? With the books?", Will asked.

"Seventh grade."

"A year behind?", he turned to her in wonder.

"But I don't understand everything", she confessed.

"That's fine. I don't remember everything that I have learned", he said. "And you can always go back to the things you don't understand. We can even help you."

"You can?" 

"Yeah. We're all pretty good in physics and science. Dustin's also good at math and algebra. Lucas knows a lot about history and social studies in general, he's always been good in those... And I think that Mike would be the best help for you in English", Will finished, offering her a supportive smile.

"What about you?", El studied him.

"I don't know", he frowned. "I'm good at arts, and in creative writing and that.. But average in the rest." 

"You're good at drawing", she told him, smiling. "Really good."

"Thanks", Will blushed, embarrassed. Then he frowned. "I still don't get it...how they didn't teach you stuff in there, in the lab", he said softly.

"I listened to...", she searched for the word for a while, before turning to him. Her eyebrows were knit together in frustration. She made a small rectangle with her fingers.

"You listened to tapes?", he suggested.

"Yes", El nodded, before turning her gaze away.

"Did you...", he begun, looking at her carefully. "How did you learn your powers?"

She shrugged, turning her gaze on the snow covered ground. "I...They said, what I should do. And I did. Tried to...", she trailed off.

"Yeah?", Will's eyebrows furrowed.

"But it was bad", she reminded him. "We won't do that."

"Like what?"

"Like that."

He knew she wouldn't tell him about it, even if he pressed. And Will wasn't one to press.

"What do you think it could be? The thing I can do", he asked instead.

"You said it before", El said, her face serious. Will looked at her, dumbfounded. "You can protect us", she continued, now eyeing a tree before them, on the edge of the field they were on.

"Really?", he asked, getting excited. "Like how?"

"We need to try", she said before climbing to the tree, using a little bit of her powers.

Will looked at her go, wide eyed, before he realized. "No, no, El", he begun, coming to stand under the tree. "You can't just jump!"

El glanced down at him, before pointing up above. "There is a kite", she told him. 

Will turned to look at the pointed direction.

"Oh, god", Will breathed out. "You scared me, El. Don't do that."

"What?"

"I thought..never mind", he mumbled, watching intently as she came back down. For a few seconds, he had been reminded of the last spring and the quarry.

"I was not going to jump", she told him.

"Oh", Will swallowed. "Sorry."

"How does this work?", El asked him them, turning the kite in her hands around. 

She had found one from Holly's room a few weeks back, when she had been playing with the toddler. And Holly being, well, Holly, had simply told her what it was. Not what you could do with it.

 

It was the first time that Will had flew a kite in the winter, with snow on the ground and on Christmas. 

They ran around, Chewy barking and running with them, trying to get the kite to stay up in the air. And they continued so long that they were both afterwards too exhausted to do anything but breath. El then showed him, how she could fly it around even without the wind.

 

Jonathan and Nancy had agreed to meet briefly before dinner. So he parked his car in front of her house, clutching the small present in his hands as he walked to the door. It was nothing big, just a book he thought she would like.

And it was just his luck, that Mike was the one to open the door after he had rang the doorbell.

"Oh", the boy said, glancing briefly behind the teen before him. Then Mike noticed the present, and grinned knowingly. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too", Jonathan chuckled. "Is Nancy--."

"Jonathan", Nancy hurried to him, down the stairs. She stopped before him, smiling softly, she too holding a present.

Mike pretended to gag, before leaving them alone.

"Come", Nancy blushed, walking past him to the outside.

"Aren't you cold?", Jonathan frowned.

"It's fine", she promised, closing the door. "I just... Some privacy, you know?"

"Yeah", he glanced at the present in his hands, before offering it to her. She swapped it with the one for him. "Merry Christmas, Nance."

He smiled a little crookedly, the way she liked. It made her blush. "Merry Christmas", she smiled shyly back at him. Then she shivered, as the cold air had reached her skin despite wearing a sweater. 

Jonathan frowned at the sight.

"It's fine", she mumbled, before another shiver went through her.

But he shook his head, opening his arms for her. "Just for a while." 

Nancy glanced at him, before giving in and going for the embrace. She slipped her arms inside his jacket, the present still in her other hand, circling them around him. 

She once again wondered, how he could stand her. She listened to his heartbeat, before snuggling a little closer, pushing the annoying feeling a little further from her heart.

Jonathan leaned his cheek on her head, closing his eyes before tightening his hold around her.

Just for a while.

 

El had given all the four boys envelopes, with their names on them, telling them to open them only on Christmas. 

 

Will had opened his in the morning, revealing a card with a cute drawing on the front - two snow angels. _"Merry Christmas, little brother"_ , read inside, making him chuckle warmly. 

Everyone had teased him about it, of the fact that El was apparently older than him, making him keep his place as the youngest of the group. But she didn't use it to tease him. She said the words softly, on the few times that she had said them, making him appreciate her even more. 

 

Lucas had opened his own in the afternoon. El had drawn a mountain of presents on the front, each colored with different combinations. _"Merry Christmas, Lucas"_ it read on the inside, with little coffee beans drawn around it. 

There was also a small _"thank you, for being a friend"_ , written below them. He smiled, shaking his head fondly as he studied the card, before placing it on his desk. 

 

Dustin got a card shaped like a ginger bread man, which he had earlier told El were the only real treat around the holiday. _"Merry Christmas, Dustin"_ , it said, with an added _"you were right, about ginger bread"_. 

The boy grinned at the text, glad he got her on his side on these things. With pineapple pizza, which remained her favorite, and now with the cookies, too. The other boys preferred chocolates and sweeter things. But at least El agreed, that the point was to eat them as much as you could.

 

Mike opened his envelope after dinner, having kept looking at it the whole day every time he had been in his room. He had wanted to save it for later and as he opened the envelope, his heart beat had found a thrilling rhythm to follow.

It was a blue card, with snow on the bottom, forest in the middle and what looked like stars and a moon on the sky. He covered his mouth with his hand, as he opened the card and revealed text on the left page.

 _"Friends don't lie. I promised"_ , was written in white, curly letters. 

And there, in the between of the card, was a picture, which he slowly turned around. He blushed, closing his eyes for a few seconds, while a wide smile spread on his face. 

It was the two of them, on the night of the snow ball. 

He had his hand on El's waist, while she leaned against his side. And she looked up to him, smiling, while he smiled back at her. He didn't even mind his flushed cheeks, or the fact that he looked really, really embarrassed. Because El looked so pretty and happy that it made his insides squirm.

 _"Merry Christmas, Mike."_ , it said on the right page.

Yeah, it was a pretty Merry Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. It'll be the New Year, on the next one. And I'm already excited about it.


	18. Can't start a fire without a spark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. It's the New Year already! - preciousbean

**Can't start a fire without a spark**

 

It had been busy few days, the ones after Christmas and before the New Year. Visiting relatives, and graves, all that. 

The Wheeler's for example had spend every day sitting in a car, driving to different places and back. The Henderson's had left the day after Christmas, dividing the days before the change of the year between the two sets of grandparents. The Sinclair's on the other hand had only made a few brief visits, while the Byers' had stayed home because of Jim's work.

That was why, one day, Will and El got invited over to Lucas' house. 

 

"I've been wondering, when I'd get the chance to meet you", Mrs. Sinclair said. "My name is Pearl", she introduced herself, greeting El with a handshake. "This is Samuel", she told her, gesturing to the man next to her. 

But El kept her eyes on her. "You're really pretty", she let out after a long silence.

"Oh, you too, sweetie", Pearl let out a soft laugh, leaning a bit closer. "No wonder the boys can't stop talking about you", she whispered to her and winked.

Will looked at them, amused, while Lucas simply rolled his eyes.

"It's always nice to meet more of Lucas' friends", Samuel said then, gaining El's attention then. He offered her his hand, which she slowly took.

"Nice to meet you", she said, carefully repeating the words she had learned. "I'm El", she added, after she realized that she had left her name out.

"Trust me", Pearl smiled, "we know."

El smiled shyly back.

"Mom", Lucas warned her.

Pearl lifted an eyebrow at her son. "I'm behaving, hun."

"Let your mother be, Lucas", Samuel said, placing a hand to his shoulder.

"Yes, dad", the boy complied, gaining a stroke to the back of his head from his father afterwards.

 

They ate dinner together, as planned before. 

Pearl asked El about a lot of things: what she had been learning until now, being basically home schooled, what she liked to do, what she was good at...

Lucas shared a look with Will, as the questions just kept going on. Then he glanced at his father, who observed the conversation without taking a part into it.

Samuel had been there, a year ago, when things had been bad. Well, he had got home right after Will had been brought into the hospital, but it didn't take him long to get updated on the situation. 

Despite his military background, he had believed his son's word about the involvement of the army and other high authorities. But he couldn't understand how everything that had happened revolved around this girl, who now sat at the same table with them. 

The girl, who was at the moment having a conversation about her telekinetic abilities with his wife like they were completely normal.

Well, to her they most likely were. 

"What else do you like to do?"

El scrunched up her nose a little, thinking about it.

"El loves reading", Will told Pearl, helping El out. "She's gone through all our children's books, already."

"Really?", Pearl begun, eyeing the girl fondly. "You know, El..."

"Yes?"

It made the woman smile, how eager and earnest the girl was to know things. To get answers.

"I don't know if Lucas has mentioned, but I write children's books."

"You do?", El asked slowly, her eyes opening a little wider.

"Yes. I could give you some of them, if you'd like?"

Fiddling with her sleeve, the girl nodded. "Thank you."

"Anytime, hun, anytime."

 

Lucas and Will took some time afterwards, to test out a new Atari game Lucas had got from his uncle on the day before. 

Meanwhile Pearl showed El the basics of playing the piano, after the girl had asked about the instrument in their lounge. They could hear the _itsy bitsy spider_ from where they sat on the living room floor, next to each other, before the television.

"Mom's so happy", Lucas said, as he gave the controller to Will. 

"Yeah?", Will smiled at his friend.

"Dad's back, and it seem's like he won't go anywhere far anymore. Not to other continent, at least... And they're getting a baby."

"You're going to be a big brother", Will bumped his arm gently, grinning.

"Yeah", Lucas chuckled. "While you're stuck being a _baby_ brother."

"That's not fair! Being younger isn't that bad", Will defended himself. "Besides, it doesn't really matter. I can still do the big brother stuff with her, anyway", he shrugged.

"Like protect her from boys. _OH_ , I'm so glad that I'm not getting a sister", Lucas rested a hand over his heart, eyes wide from relief.

Will chuckled at his theatrical expression. "You mean, protect her from Mike? Because, well... He's quite harmless, I think", he shrugged, glancing at the television screen which had the game menu on it.

"Ohh...", Lucas chuckled, before suddenly pressing 'play' for Will and startling him. "You just wait."

"H-hey!", Will got out, trying to turn his focus suddenly onto the game. "I don't know how this works! It's not fair!"

"The same way the others do", Lucas advised him with a smirk, "with the controls."

"Come on!", Will laughed, scooting closer to him with the controller. "I don't know what to do!"

Lucas grinned at him, not helping, but not pulling away either. Their knees brushed together, and when Will soon lost and pushed the controller back to him, he grinned even wider.

"I'll show you", he chuckled. "Don't lose this time!"

Lucas didn't even mind that Will nudged his side, because of his comment. It was worth the smile and chuckles he got.

 

For the New Year, Karen had invited all the families in her home. 

They had never done that before, but the events of the year before had brought the parents together. And all of them had got the evening free, without any plans whatsoever. Well, Jim had to be reached through the phone, being the chief of police... But otherwise everyone were free.

Karen had planned it in advance: who would bring what, how many fireworks should Ted buy for the evening... she had even made a note about everyone's allergies. 

 

Mr and Mrs Henderson were both bubbly and easygoing people, having no problem in large crowds. Dustin was like his parents, really, and Karen understood the boy much better after getting to know the family he came from.

Mr and Mrs Sinclair on the other hand were quite an interesting pair. Mr Sinclair worked in the military, sometimes being on command for months without seeing his family. Mrs Sinclair often gave her new books to Holly for an opinion before publishing them, ever since the girl had been old enough to been read to. 

Both families were already there, mingling in the living room. Michael and the boys had disappeared into the basement immediately, to get away from the grownup talk.

They were waiting for the last family to arrive and would then be ready for the evening to fully begin. Karen fiddled her hands, as she and Ted spoke with the two other sets of parents. 

She and Joyce... they went a way back. They had known each other in high school, both having different friends and things at the time. After Lonnie, finally in Karen's opinion, had left his family, the women had become friends of some sort. And during the past year they had formed a real friendship, which neither of them had even expected to happen.

Talking about their troubled sons over an afternoon coffee was maybe not the best way to build a friendship. But that was what had brought the two together. 

That was why, when the doorbell rang, she went for the door with a huge smile on her face. 

 

The Byers hadn't fully gotten into the house yet, before Holly ran to El with open arms.

"El!", she squealed, jumping up for a hug. 

El quickly got a hold of the girl, not wanting to drop her. "Holly", she got out, surprised.

"Honey, let them get their coats of first, alright?", Karen said, her voice a little warning.

Will had already hang his coat, and he came next to the girls. "Can't I get a hug, too, Holly?", he chuckled, looking at the way the girl clung to El.

"No", Holly told him, letting El put her back down. She waited just enough for the older girl to take her coat off, before pulling her to the living room.

Jonathan ruffled Will's hair, guiding him after the girls, the rest of their newly formed family not far behind.

"You are El, right?" 

El turned to a friendly looking woman, with curly brown hair. She immediately know who it was. The blue eyes gave her away.

"Yes", she said, offering a small smile. "Nice to meet you."

"It's so nice to finally meet you", she insisted. "I'm Dustin's mother, Edith Henderson."

"And I'm his father, Calvin", a man next to her said.

"Nice to meet you", she said to him, too, glancing at him shyly.

"Oh, you look so pretty, El!", Pearl came to them, too.

"You, too", El let the woman peck her cheek in greeting.

That was when two things happened at the same time. Nancy came downstairs and immediately spotted Jonathan from the crowd, going to him. And Mike, Dustin, and Lucas came back upstairs, from the basement, and saw El being surrounded by their parents. They immediately went in to the rescue.

"Mom", Lucas groaned, pulling his mother gently away.

"What?", Pearl asked him.

"Don't scare her, she's not used to this. People getting so close."

"Same to you, too, mom!", Dustin told his mother right after.

"What about me?", his father asked, in a mock shocked voice.

"You're just goofy, dad, but mom can be weird", Dustin told him.

"I'm fine", El tried to say, before she spotted Mike and offered him a smile. 

He smiled back, motioning for her to come to him. And she did, sneaking past the mass of adults.

"I thought it would be good for you to, you know, to get away from the middle of", he pointed at the adults, who were now talking in loud, excited voices, "that."

"Thank you", she said, glancing back to where she had just stood. "It's loud."

"I know, right?", Mike laughed, turning to look at her. 

She kept watching the adults, as he watched her. He wondered what she thought about, when she suddenly wrinkled her nose. She then turned to him and their eyes locked for a several seconds. 

"Um", he hummed suddenly, surprising himself, too. But she waited for him to continue, so he told her the first thing on his mind: "You look nice, El."

El smiled, before playfully twirling in her soft prink dress. "Pretty?", she asked.

She was challenging him, he could tell. Her eyes twinkled with amusement, while her voice was as soft as always.

Mike nodded. "Really pretty", he told her, offering her the words not only he wanted to say, but which she liked the most to hear.

Karen clapped her hands then, to gain everyone's attention. 

"I'd like to welcome you all, now that we're all here", she smiled brightly. "I suggest we each get a glass", she said, pointing at the dining room table which had a few trays on it, "non-alcoholic is on the other side, the darker one."

El looked around confused, after Mike had brought her a glass, too. She sniffed the drink, before slowly blinking at it in wonder. Apple juice.

"Don't drink it, yet", Mike said, eyeing her from where he stood by her side. 

She frowned at him slightly.

"We'll drink it together, okay?", he told her. "When celebrating, you raise your glass and cheer together, before you can drink."

"This won't be that simple", Lucas murmured, coming to his other side.

"Yeah", Dustin agreed with a sigh. "I bet there'll be speeches."

 

After they all stood there, with glasses in their hands, they looked at each other.

"Does someone have a speech or something?", Jim asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"Maybe we could all say something?", Edith, Dustin's mother suggested. "Things we wait from the coming year. Or anything else you want to say."

"I'll start, then", Samuel, Lucas' father begun. "Some of you may already know this, but we finally have baby number two on the way", he chuckled, as the whole room erupted in congratulations.

"Publishing the first part of my new book series", Pearl smiled, cheering with her alcohol-free glass.

They went around like that, through the adults mostly, as the kids chatted among themselves.

But when it was Joyce's turn, El regained her attention, locking her eyes with the woman. Joyce smiled at her from the other side of the room. 

"Oh", Joyce sighed, laughing softly. "Where should I begin?", she asked the adults then, making them laugh, too. "Well", she looked up to Jim. "We're moving to our new house, in the end of January." 

They all cheered to that. Even the boys cheered loudly now, clinking their glasses with El's who watched what everyone else did with wide eyes.

"And also", Jim continued, after the room had calmed down, "El is now officially a part of our family", he said, looking fondly at the girl. 

And El simply stood there, staring at the pair on the other side of the room.

"El Jane Hopper", Joyce said softly, and the room filled with excitement. It was thick in the air, in the otherwise silent room, as no one wanted to break the moment. "We got your papers yesterday."

El felt suddenly out of breath. 

"Really?", she whispered. 

Not out of breath like after a long run, but like it was hard to get air into your lungs. Like they were already full enough. 

She felt full. 

It wasn't just the name, no. It was what it meant. 

She was part of a family now, a real part of _the family_ , and no one could tell her otherwise. She had a name, besides a number, and she had a home with the people she had grown to care about. 

With the people, who had risked a lot, in her eyes, to take her in.

And not only had it eased her mind, the papers had lifted a heavy weight from Joyce and Jim's shoulders. There was now a proof of her, of some sorts, and a certainty that she belonged with them.

"Yes, honey", Joyce cried, and El ran to her. They embraced, both of them crying as the rest of the room broke into loud cheers. 

Jim stroked her back, before Joyce guided the girl into his arms, and then hugged her close. Jonathan came to her too, chuckling but crying at the same time. He wrapped his arms around her, telling her how happy he was. 

It was Will's turn then, and he hugged her tight, the rest of the boys joining in.

El covered her eyes with her hands, sniffing and laughing. 

It was weird, to cry and laugh simultaneously. She trembled, her hands shaking so badly that she couldn't properly wipe her tears away. But she wasn't sad, scared or angry. Nothing like that. 

She was a lot of things, but most of all relieved. 

 

Nancy had pulled El aside and to the bathroom, to fix the mascara she had on.

"This is the annoying part of make-up", the teen said softly. "If you cry, it's ruined."

"Is it bad?", El asked with a sniff, trying to turn and take a peek, but Nancy kept her in her place.

"No, just a few dots on your eyelids... Close your eyes."

"Nancy?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you like Jonathan?"

"Hmm?", the teen said, before blushing. "What? Why do you ask?"

"Will said you might like Steve?"

Nancy stopped wiping her eyelids then, and she opened her eyes.

"I liked Steve", Nancy told her slowly. "But it didn't work out."

"Why?"

El was so innocent, that Nancy felt a tug on her heart. "I realized, that I didn't like him that much."

"Not like Jonathan?", the girl asked softly.

And Nancy smiled. "No, not like Jonathan."

El beamed at her.

"Since you're asking about me and your brother, I will return the favor", Nancy smirked, patting something on El's eyelids at the same time. "Are you going to have the New Years kiss with Mike?"

"New Years kiss?", El asked slowly, eyes once again closed.

Nancy put a bit of pink now, after the brown eyeshadow. "It's a thing, start the new year by kissing the one you like. When the year changes."

"It is?", she opened her eyes, after Nancy was done. "Are you and Jonathan kissing?"

"I don't know", Nancy blushed.

"Have you? Kissed?", El asked then, feeling quite curious about it. She had no idea how much other people kissed each other, besides the adults. But she knew that adults could kiss a lot. At least in the television, they did.

"Yeah", Nancy chuckled nervously, "I mean, we have. But not in a long time."

"Why?", El asked, her eyes filled with something that the teen interpreted as worry.

"It's what we agreed on... To not to do things, at least not too soon."

"Is it bad? To not do so?"

"No, El, of course not. It's just that...we want to be sure about this, if you know what I mean?"

She wasn't sure if she did, at least not fully, but El nodded anyway.

"Good."

She then turned to the mirror, smiling at the added touch on her eyelids. "I like it. Thank you."

"Yeah?", Nancy confirmed, turning to eye the makeup on the counter. She had gone for a very light makeup that day, although she had her fancier purple dress on. After thinking about it she lifted the eyeshadow pallet, showing it to El. "What should I put?"

And El loved to be of help. Both of them cherished these moments, between just the two of them. 

When the boys played, Nancy sometimes fetched El to hang out with her. Together they painted their nails, tried on different makeup styles, or simply read magazines. Nancy explained different things to El, skipping over the ones she would've got uncomfortable talking about. She had never been a girly-girl, but she found out she enjoyed doing those things together with El.

 

When they were ready and returned downstairs, they joined Jonathan and the boys in the kitchen. 

"What were you doing?", Jonathan chuckled at the sight of the two girls, who turned to each other.

"Nothing", Nancy said slowly. El turned to Jonathan with a small smile, who grinned back.

"You took long", Mike told them, looking between the two with a slight frown. "But yeah, mom said that we can eat here, while the rest are in the dining room."

"We wouldn't fit in there anyway", Lucas shrugged, taking a seat at the table, reaching for the food already.

"Finally", Dustin huffed, taking a plate and piling the different foods on it.

El watched with a smile how Jonathan offered Nancy different things, without her even asking him to do so. He poured her something to drink, offered her the salad, stuff like that. She wondered what it was, that made them unsure. To her, they looked nice.

"El? You're not hungry?", Will asked, bringing her back to the moment and to stare at her empty plate.

"I am", she told him, turning to look at the food. "I don't know where to start." 

And it was the truth. There were so many things she hadn't yet tasted, so many things she knew she liked...and all of them looked delicious.

"Start with this", Mike said then, from her other side, a salad bowl in his hands. She didn't like the idea, and he noticed it. "Then it's done. There's also a couple of different fish, pork..."

"Cranberry meatballs", Lucas said from the other side of the table. "My mother made them."

"Those", Dustin said, pointing to a pot in the middle of the table, "are veggies à la mother Henderson."

"Just eat what ever you like", Nancy told her, laughing. "Don't mind them, El."

But El started with the salad, and gathered a little bit of everything after that on her plate. Holly soon decided to join them, running to the room and straight to her favorite person at the moment.

Holly started climbing to El's lap, and the older girl made room for her. "You ate already?", she asked, picking up a meatball with her fork.

"Yeah!", Holly nodded, watching intently as she ate and leaning her head to her hand.

El had gotten pretty good at ignoring Holly and thus ate in peace, the whole table now chattering about fireworks. She had already heard the rumbling sound they made, somewhere in the distance, as other people had already begun firing some.

"There's a lot", Mike confirmed, smirking to his friends.

"Oh man", Lucas said. "This is the best new year!", he announced, before his grin dropped. "Please don't tell my mom I said that."

"Can I feed you?", Holly asked then, her voice loud and cheery as she looked up at El, silencing the whole table.

"She can eat by herself, Holly", Nancy told her little sister, looking uncomfortable for El's behalf.

But Holly didn't listen. "Please", she begged, and El ate the last piece of the messy pork on her plate, before handing over her fork with a roll of eyes.

"What is this?", Dustin laughed. "She's got her own, willing servant."

Mike watched, amused, as his sister picked up a green bean and put it in El's waiting mouth.

Lucas leaned to him. "I bet you're thinking, why it's your sister who's doing that", he whispered, before smirking.

"Shut up", Mike hushed him with a slap to the boy's arm, turning back to his plate.

But every time that either his little sister or El giggled, or made another sound, he turned to look at them. Yes, he was now jealous, because of his four-year-old sister. And yes, it was kind of idiotic. 

 

After dinner, of which Holly did feed El through, there were a lot of desserts. 

And while the boys had been smart enough to save enough room for them, Nancy settled for only a slice of cake. Meanwhile, El watched over the toddler in her lap. Holly had ice cream with chocolate sauce and she found herself being afraid that it would drop on her dress, if she looked away.

"Don't you want to taste the cake, El?", Mike asked her. "It's like a tradition, everyone has it on New Years."

And before she could think twice, or even once to be honest, El had turned to him, her mouth a little open and waiting. Mike turned crimson. He stared at her, his eyes wide and mouth opening slightly for a few times without any sound coming out. 

And before she had closed her mouth, which she did after seeing his face, everyone at the table had seen their few seconds long moment.

"EL!", Lucas screamed with laughter, dropping his head to the table. 

Dustin had to walk away from the table and when he returned, he was as red as Mike, but from laughter. The rest of them laughed, Will patting El comfortingly on her back at the same time. 

El hid her head on Holly's back, as everyone laughed at her. The toddler giggled, although she had no idea what had happened. Neither had El, to be honest.

"It's fine", Will told her, chuckling. "That happens, sometimes."

She turned her head a little, to see Mike. "I'm sorry", she got out, locking eyes with his.

Mike stared back at her, cheeks blazing red. He looked embarrassed. Then he burst out in laughter. And El smiled in wonder, despite the awkwardness, glad that he was happy.

"What's going on?", Karen asked as she came to the room and carrying a pile of plates to the kitchen counter, Joyce not far behind with a matching load. "What's so funny?", she asked, smiling because of their laughter.

They laughed even harder.

"Nothing", Nancy got out, covering her mouth before another giggle escaped.

"You're so silly", Joyce shook her head, smiling especially at her children.

"Are you sure you're not bothering El, sweetie?", Karen asked Holly then, eyeing the toddler cautiously.

"No", the girl said, scooping up her ice cream.

"Is that right? Did you at least let her eat?"

"I fed her", Holly beamed at her mother, causing another row of laughter.

Karen felt a smile tugging at her lips, but tried to keep her cool. "Holly, let El eat on her own, okay? We've talked about this before."

"Before?", Dustin said then, eyes wide and chuckling at the idea.

Even Joyce looked interested, having gone to stand next to Karen.

"Holly has fed her before?", Nancy asked then, shocked. "Mom. No."

"What?", El asked slowly. She knew it would've been weird, for Mike to do it. Even the idea made her hands tingle and her stomach squirm. But Holly was a completely different thing. Why would it matter?

"It's weird", Nancy told her, before turning to look at Holly. "Let her eat on her own, alright?"

"Okay", Holly muttered.

"I think it's cute", Joyce cut in, not wanting to hurt anyone.

 

When Nancy and Jonathan had headed upstairs for some privacy and Holly had been dragged back to the adults, the kids decided to head to the basement for a while.

After it was only he and El in the kitchen, as the three boys had raced down to conquer the couch, Mike turned to her. "You didn't get to have any dessert", he said, gaining her full attention.

"Hmm", she nodded, looking at the desserts on the counter, minus the ice cream in the freezer. "What is your favorite?", she asked after a while, turning to look at him.

He shrugged, glancing at the treats. "The pie maybe, or brownies", he said slowly. "Brownies", he answered then, sounding certain.

El looked between the different plates for a few seconds. "This?", she pointed at the brownies.

"Yeah."

She eyed the pieces, which were quite large and chocolaty, too. "I can't eat a whole one", she muttered, embarrassed.

"Oh, okay...We can do this", Mike said, bending a piece of one of them, offering it to her. "Here."

El looked at it, then at him. She lifted her hand to take the offered piece, but he softly brushed it back down with his free hand.

"My turn", he said shyly, offering the brownie piece to her.

So she took a bite of it, careful not to look Mike in the eyes.

Before, when she had thought about him doing _this_ , she had got a weird feeling inside her. But this... this was a lot more than what she had got before. 

"Did you like it?", Mike asked, voice thin. He kept his hand before her, the brownie ready for her.

She nodded, before taking the rest from his hand with her fingers, feeling too embarrassed to do it again. 

"Me or Holly?", he asked, smirking a little, despite his pink tinted cheeks. "Which one was better?"

El swallowed the rest, only then looking at him again. "She put a piece of apple, into my mouth", she said. "It poked my cheeks", she pointed at both of her cheeks with her index fingers, making him chuckle. "You."

"Good", Mike laughed. He took her hand, before pulling her to the basement with him.

 

"What do you think", Lucas immediately asked, as they got down, "what should we do?"

"There's two hours 'till the fireworks", Will said, glancing at the clock. "You want to play a board game or something?"

"Sure", Mike shrugged, looking at a shelve with a few of them. El chose that moment to lace their fingers together, making him swallow hard. "Which one?"

"Do you want to play, El?", Dustin turned to the girl.

"I haven't played", El told him.

"Seriously?", Dustin asked, and she shook her head. He turned to frown at Will and Mike. "You spend so much time with her, and she hasn't played a board game? Like, really?"

Mike shrugged, glancing at the girl next to him. He hadn't had time to think about board games, not like before. 

"How about Empire Builder?", Lucas suggested, "we haven't played that in a while."

 

Trains and train tracks. 

El had never seen a train in her new life, but she still remembered the tracks they had walked along, while searching for Will. She glanced at her brother who smiled encouragingly at her, and was offering her the yellow piece while he took the white one. 

She felt his presence on the game piece, immediately after taking it in her hand. It must've been his before. And El remembered, once again, how she had sabotaged their mission to rescue him.

She concentrated on the game before her and the rules, not wanting to ruin anyones night.

 

"How can she have all the good cards?", Dustin asked, when El completed another of the demand cards she had.

"Beginners luck", Lucas said, while frowning at his own cards.

"She'll win, soon", Will smirked at El, who smirked back. 

She thought that she might actually like winning.

"Do you guys know, what we'll do next?", Mike asked, already excited about his idea.

"We don't have much time before midnight", Lucas commented offhandedly.

"Not now", Mike scoffed, "but we're going to teach her Dungeons and Dragons, right? Then Magic."

"Yes", Dustin turned to El, his eyes wide, grinning at her. "You'll be our new elf princess."

El lifted her eyebrows at that, not sure what to say.

"That would be nice", Will nodded, while making his turn.

She turned to Mike, to ask him about elves, only to find out that he was already looking at her. They sat next to each other, sharing one side of the square table.

He then playfully tried to look at her cards and grinned widely when she hid them from him. 

That was something Will had advised her about, when the boys had been playing the card game they liked: never show your cards.

Then it was El's turn and calmly she made her final moves, winning the game.

"No", Lucas whined, slumping back in his chair. "Girls shouldn't play."

Will laughed at the smug look on Mike's face, while the boy was looking at Lucas. 

"Boys! And El! Fireworks!", came a yell from upstairs. "Backyard!"

They got up from the table, all of them excited, and went to dress warmly for the midnight winter breeze.

 

Once they got outside, El once again wondered why she was in a dress and tights in the middle of the winter, no matter how thick the tights were this time. 

They stood there in a mass, while Jonathan and Nancy had got the permission to go light the fireworks a bit further away, on the large open area behind the fence.

"Is it safe?", El asked Will, while jumping on her place.

"Yeah, he knows what he's doing", the boy assured her. "They'll be a bit loud, just so you know. But beautiful. I think that you're going to love them."

"You can cover your ears with your hands, if you need to", Dustin told her.

She nodded, still jumping. Holly came to join her and El instantly pulled the girl to a hug. "Stay, please", she told the girl, who giggled and hugged her middle.

"That cold?", Mike laughed, and El nodded. 

He looked at her for a while, before moving a bit closer and draping an arm around her shoulders. She shuffled as close as she got, grateful for the embrace and warmth.

Then it begun, the light show on the sky, with a bright light and a loud bang. 

El tensed, eyes wide, as firework after another exploded on the black canvas before her. 

She didn't like the voice and apparently Dustin noticed that, because he brought his mitten clad hands over her ears from behind her, muffling the sound a little. 

But she liked it otherwise. It was beautiful, just like Will had told her.

 

After the fireworks, it was fifteen minutes to midnight. 

All of the guests had gathered into the living room, listening to the countdown coming from the TV.

"Do you think Jonathan and Nancy will kiss, on midnight?", El whispered to Will, who stood next to her.

"I don't know", Will whispered, but he had a small smile on his face. "They sure do look uncomfortable to be here", he noted, while looking at their brother. 

Jonathan stood on the other side of the room, talking with Nancy. Neither looked each other in the face. Will was sure that they were blushing, too, the both of them.

"What are you whispering?", Lucas whispered, coming over. He came to stand between them, draping his arms on both of their shoulders.

"If Jonathan and Nancy will kiss or not", Will told him, glancing up at him.

"Oh", the boy said, before looking at El. "I'm more interested to know if you'll kiss Mike", he confessed. "Around all the people here."

El blushed. "He hasn't said anything."

 

"You're stupid", Dustin said, looking at his friend. "Of course she'll want to."

"In front of everyone?", Mike asked, disbelievingly.

"Man, I don't think she cares about that", his friend said, looking over at their three friends. "You just say you want to kiss her, that's that."

"I don't know", Mike mumbled. He didn't know what he was so shy about. 

Dustin sighed. "Let's at least go to them, you still have time to think about that. But I'd go for it, if I were you. Girls like that kind of things."

 

"They're coming", Will warned El and Lucas, who had been talking about whether it should be her or Mike to initiate the kiss.

"What were you talking about?", Dustin asked, as he and Mike joined them.

"Nothing", came an immediate answer from the three of them.

Then they waited, and waited, talking about some small things while trying not to get too uncomfortable. 

It was a minute to midnight when Holly came over, pulling El's sleeve.

She crouched, tucking her dress under her legs. Holly came to whisper to her ear, covering the sides of her mouth with her hands. El immediately glanced at Mike, who tried to look everywhere else at the moment.

"Okay", she smiled softly to the girl, getting up. "I'm kissing Holly, on midnight", she announced, as Holly took a hold of her hand.

Mike looked at his sister with wide eyes. "Holly...why?"

"Because I can kiss who I like. Mom said so", Holly told him. "And I like El."

"You're really going to kiss El?", Mike confirmed, while their conversation had gotten everyone's attention.

Holly nodded, looking proud and beaming at El. 

El hadn't been able to say no to her, how could she? Besides, she hadn't been sure if Mike would've wanted to kiss there, in front of everyone.

Dustin patted Mike's back. "Too late", he fake coughed.

Lucas put his arm on Will's shoulder, leaning to him.

"Ten, nine.."

Everyone count down together.

"..six, five.."

El leaned down, to Holly's level.

"..one, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Holly placed an innocent kiss to El's lips. Then she giggled and came to hug her, before running off to her mother.

And El was immediately pulled in for a group hug with the boys, Will being the first this time and therefor were in the middle of the embrace with her. She glanced over his shoulder, leaning her head to her brothers, as she looked at Mike.

 _"Later?"_ , he mouthed to her, blushing, and she nodded as a soft smile graced her face.

 

Jim cradled El close, kissing her forehead and telling her how happy he was, to have her there. Then she switched places with Will, going to Joyce next who told her the same things, hugging her tight and placing kisses all around her face. 

Jonathan hugged her and Will at the same time, all of them laughing and trying to hug each other even tighter. Then El ran to Nancy, who kissed her cheek and hugged her. 

Karen came to her next, kissed her temple and both cheeks, before hugging her tight. "Thank you, honey", the woman whispered, "for coming back. Happy new year."

El hugged her back, closing her eyes. "Happy new year."

 

After they had calmed down Mike asked El briefly to his room, where he gave her the other half of the photo booth pictures they had taken at the snow ball. 

"I forgot to give these to you", he told her. "I just put them into my pocket, and didn't remember them afterwards." 

It was a lie. He just hadn't found a moment good enough, to give them to her. Or mustered his courage to do so. However you wanted to put it. 

"Thank you", she whispered. "You're not... mad, that I didn't kiss you?", she asked softy, brushing her finger over their pictures.

Mike blushed at her words, but shook his head. "I-I guess not", he stumbled over his words. "But I'm not sharing you with Holly, no matter how much she might like you", he said then, blushing even more after realizing just how the words had come out.

"You don't need to", she smiled, taking his hand.

"And", Mike cleared his throat. "Thanks for the Christmas card. I liked it. And the picture, too. A lot."

"Mike", El said, after she had carefully put the strips of pictures on his desk. 

"Yeah?"

She took a step closer to him, eyeing him with such curiosity and adoration that Mike wondered if it would be like that forever. 

He felt his breath hitching, as he stared down at her.

"Hm?", he got out.

"Happy new year."

"You, too", Mike gulped, "happy new year, El."

El smiled. And then she did something, that he wasn't sure that had never happened before, not like this. Not with just the two of them. 

She blushed.

His eyes widened in realization, after she had lowered her gaze to their clasped hands. He swallowed and brought his slightly shaking hand under her chin, before shyly tilting her head back up.

She was so pretty and he knew he stared at her, but he couldn't help it. 

He leaned down, closing his eyes right before his lips touched hers. It was like the kisses they had shared before, all soft and warm.

She let go of his hand to bring both of her hands to rest against his chest, against his grey sweater, before slowly pulling away.

He licked his lips, nervously, and the taste of her lip balm caught him by surprise. Cherries. 

"Ngh", Mike breathed out, and blushed as El let out a small, surprised laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Can I haz comments, please? Pretty please? ♥


	19. Our House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE COMMENTS! And woah, soon we'll reach 3k hits!?? Luv, preciousbean

**Our House**

 

It was just like Jim had promised. 

At the end of January, the house was ready. It had came together so fast, that none of them could really believe it as they drove to their new home for the first time. 

They had already packed most of their things - but not all, as they wouldn't be moving yet. The best part was still waiting to be done. Joyce and Jim had decided, afterwards also warming the children to the idea, to paint the walls inside of the house themselves. The ones where they wanted some color, other than white.

Their home, as Will calculated on their way there, was now about five minutes by bike from Dustin's house and ten from Lucas' and Mike's. The distance between the friends' houses had decreased by half of its original length, at least. 

When they pulled on the front yard they simply sat in the car for a while, staring at the house.

"Did someone rich die, and you didn't tell us?", Jonathan asked slowly. "This must've cost a fortune."

"I had savings", Jim shrugged, causing Joyce to snort. After smirking at the woman beside him he got out of the car, the rest following his example. 

 

In two visible stories, with red brick and white boarding, stood their house. They made their way through the snow covered yard, to the front porch. 

Jim glanced at his family. "Are we ready?", he asked, to which everyone nodded. He opened the door and they passed the mud room, stopping in to the living room.

Dark, but still soft colored wooden floors. White painted brick wall, with a fireplace in the middle of it. Windows to the front of the house, and also large windows and slide doors to the patio on the opposite wall, pointing to the pond.

On their left were the kitchen and the separate dining room. On the right and around the corner, there were a door to Joyce and Jim's bedroom, a bathroom, and stairs up and down.

Downstairs, they were met with another living room. Small windows high on the walls, normally offering light from the outside, were now covered with snow. 

"That door over there, next to the bathroom", Jim said to Jonathan, clasping his shoulder, "that leads to your own dark room."

"No way", the teen chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief, before rushing to see a peek of the room himself.

"And this is for you", Joyce told Will and El. "We can get you a table here for your games, our old couch, all that."

"Yeah", Will grinned, eyeing the space before them. El went to Joyce's side, leaning against the woman. She hugged her close, smiling.

"Ready to see your rooms?", Joyce asked, receiving excited nods. They went up the stairs, passing the first floor and continuing to the second. 

"So, Jonathan, this is your room", she begun, pointing at the nearest door, "so if you sneak out at night, like teenagers tend to do, you won't wake your brother and sister", she said, making everyone chuckle while Jonathan looked slightly embarrassed.

"Then there is the bathroom", Jim continued, and after their glances added, "yes, another, because there's five of us. And soon there'll be three teenagers, not just one."

"The next two rooms are basically identical, the other just positioned vertically", Joyce told Will and El, once they had stopped at the end of the quite short hallway. "You can decide together who takes which one, alright?"

Will immediately turned to El. "Which one do you want?"

El shrugged, walking back and forth between the doors, stopping for a few seconds at a time to stare into the rooms. "I don't know."

The other had its windows to the front of the house, while the other had them pointing to the side and to the forest.

"I like the forest", El said then, softly. She had stopped to the doorway of the last room and was staring at the trees behind the windows.

Will smiled. "Then you take that one." 

Joyce kissed his head, before moving to the girl. She ushered her further to the room, with a huge smile on her face.

El went to the white french doors, on the same side of the room with the door, and opened them to reveal a lot of space: empty shelves and a rack in the middle. 

"For my clothes?", she asked Joyce.

"That's right, sweetie", the woman nodded. "What do you think? About the whole room?"

"I like it", El smiled, closing the doors and turning around.

"Do you want some wallpaper or something? Or should we paint the walls?", Joyce asked her.

El nodded, looking at the white walls. They made her sad.

"Mom", Will said then, coming to the room.

"Yes, honey?", Joyce asked, turning to face him.

"Can't I just paint my walls? Jonathan said, that I have to choose a wallpaper", he said with a frown.

"He teased you, sweetie", the woman sighed.

Will hurried out of the room, and soon they heard the boys' chuckles echo their way through the empty rooms.

"He's too easy to tease", Joyce murmured, turning back to El.

"He trusts people", the girl said, patting the completely empty back wall at the same time.

"I know", the woman smiled.

"Ready to go the the hardware store?", Jim's voice boomed from the hall.

"Are we?", Joyce asked, and El nodded.

 

They had drove further away and to a bigger store, to get everything they needed from the same place.

While comparing the different wallpapers and paints, El felt confused. She looked at the pretty floral one in her hand, and then at the paint section where Will and Jonathan were, comparing color pallets.

"I like this", El told Joyce and Jim, showing them the one with soft pink and purple roses. "Put I'd like the paint, too", she said, turning to look at the boys further away from them.

Joyce and Jim had already chosen the papers and paints they'd need. They had a cart loaded with things already.

"We can do one wall with that", Joyce suggested, pointing at the sample, "and the rest with paint, how does that sound? We can always add more later."

El immediately knew that it would be the back wall, that would get the flower print. She had an image in her head about it. "Yes", she nodded.

"You've got the prints with you, Jim?", Joyce asked, and Jim pulled them out of his pocket.

"Which wall?", he asked, showing El's room from the paper to her. "So we know how much we need", he explained, after a confused look she gave him.

"That one", El pointed at the wall furthest from the door, on the front side of the house.

"Good", Jim said, "now go to the boys and choose the paint you want, we'll come soon."

 

It was one heck of a job. 

After their trip to the hardware store on early Saturday morning, they were on late Sunday evening finally finished with the walls. Even when they got help with them, from one of the builder's son, it still took long. 

Then they slowly moved in. Will and Jonathan had school and the adults work, while El went to the Wheeler's everyday. But after school Will came to get El, and they went straight home together. Everyone worked at a fast pace to get their house to feel like home.

And by the end of the week, they had finished unpacking everything. 

Jim and Joyce had put together their new dining table, which was bigger than before. They had their old wooden stools, and a few new matching ones, around the island in the kitchen. The living room now had two couches and a recliner, which Jim had saved from his old house.

The bedrooms were ready, too. Joyce and Jim had gone for soft colors in theirs, while Jonathan had chosen his favorite ones: dark brown in a few pieces of furniture, but mostly forest green like the walls. 

Will's room had been the hardest to make, as he had wanted to paint a whole art piece to his otherwise empty wall. In different shades of grey, he had done a mountain landscape, with a little help from Jonathan. But the biggest help had came from El, as she had loved to be involved. 

He kept telling her about a book, about hobbits and dwarves, while painting. The other walls in his room were painted too, but with a soft orange color. She promised to read the book next. It did sound quite interesting.

 

El had got the floral wallpaper on the back wall of her room, and had chosen a matching soft pink paint for the rest of the walls. She had a new bed, and her own desk. 

She had her closet full of her clothes, still mostly the curtesy of Nancy. But everyone kept telling her how she would begin to get things of her own now, too. She didn't mind wearing Nancy's old clothes, but she noticed that everyone else did. She usually just shrugged, when someone brought up the issue. All that mattered to her was that she liked the clothes she had, and they were comfortable.

 

Jonathan had also got the dark room ready, immediately after he hadn't been needed that much around the house anymore. 

They had also moved their old couch to the basement, along with their old dining room table, making the space a lot more comfortable. Will had told El how he'd like to paint something on the walls down there, too, but he still didn't know what. She had told him to wait, and when he'd know for sure she would help him with it. 

Will had grinned so widely, that El had tried to count his teeth. She was sure, that she saw them all. 

 

"Here", Joyce said, dropping another box in the middle of the living room. "The rest of the lights."

"I told you", Will smiled, glancing at El. "We have enough for you, too."

El smiled as she sat on the floor with a box, untangling the first ball of lights.

"You have yours, Will?", Joyce asked, dropping to the floor with them.

"Yeah", he nodded, working on a wire-mess, too. 

"Are they all the same?", El asked slowly, gaining their attention. "They all have different colors?"

"I guess so...", Joyce thought about it, before opening another box. "We could switch the bulbs, if you want a specific color, sweetie? Is that something you'd like?"

"Can we do that?", Will asked, turning to his mother excitedly. 

"Sure, honey", she chuckled, eyeing the two kids with a soft smile. "Which colors do you want?"

El turned to look at Will, waiting for his answer.

"I don't know, I actually think I like them this way", he said slowly.

Fiddling with the lights on her lap, El cast her eyes on them. She liked all of the colors, too, to be honest. But there were a few she liked the most.

"But we can do that for you, El", Will hurried to add. "Just pick the colors you want, and we can switch the rest, okay?"

"This one", she said then, lifting up a clear bulb for them to see. "White? And pink."

Will grinned at her. "Sure, but you can choose more than two, if you want."

El eyed the lights once again. "Maybe yellow?", she said slowly.

"Do you want yellow? You can choose anything you want", Joyce told her softly, calmly waiting for her to decide. 

She had realized, with a heavy heart, that the girl wasn't used to making decisions on her own. She had the tendency to look for others opinions, sometimes going along with something she didn't even want. So, they had practiced that for a while now already. The truth was that El needed time, but Joyce was more than ready to give that to her. All the time she needed.

"Yes", El said then, with a genuine smile. "White, yellow, and pink."

"That sounds beautiful, love", Joyce gushed, reaching a hand to stroke the girl's cheek.

"Is it white or a clear one?", Will asked then, confused, starting to examine the lights in his hands.

 

After everything major had been done, they had officially corked their new kitchen by making a huge dinner on Friday evening. Jim had taught El how to make a perfect roast while the whole family had gathered into the kitchen, to relax and chat while the meat got cooked. 

 

"Can we call our friends, ask them to come over tomorrow?", Will asked his mother, after they had sat around their new dining table with steaming food before them.

"Actually, we have already agreed on having a housewarming party", Joyce told him. "We have already called the Wheeler's, Henderson's and Sinclair's."

"You didn't know?", Jim lifted his eyebrows.

"No", Will shook his head, before looking at Jonathan and El, "did you?"

El shook her head, but Jonathan nodded. "I talked about it with Nancy", the teen said, before focusing back on his food.

"That's what I wanted to ask you, actually", Joyce said slowly. "Is she more than a friend, Jonathan?"

As Will chuckled and El smiled knowingly at her plate, Jonathan shrugged. "I don't know."

"So she is", Jim nodded, smirking at Joyce.

"No closed doors then, while hanging in your room, alright?", the woman said sternly, while still looking highly amused of the situation and of her son's embarrassment.

"Fine", Jonathan muttered, his cheeks gaining a light pink tint.

"Why no closed doors?", El asked, while cutting her meat.

"So they don't do anything appropriate", Jim told her slowly, glancing at Joyce for reassurance. 

"Like what?", the girl asked. "Kiss?"

"More than that", Joyce said, while the men at the table had turned quiet and embarrassed. "Why don't we talk about that later, okay?"

El nodded, feeling more than slightly confused. She then, when no one was looking, took a piece of meat from her plate and gave it to Chewy. The dog sat next to her, clearly waiting for a treat. 

Then the family slowly got back to their earlier conversation, about the housewarming party on the following day.

 

After dinner, Joyce fetched Will's biology book and settled on El's bed with the girl.

"This explains a lot of things", she begun, marking the right chapters for her to read. "Do you want to read them together, or by yourself?"

El looked at the book with a frown. "Together. If I have any questions."

"Alright", Joyce nodded, starting from the beginning.

 

When they had covered the changes during puberty, El seemed to be only slightly horrified about the monthly bleeding and not much about anything else. She took everything so calmly, that it was easy for Joyce to talk about the things with her.

Then they got to intercourse and the possible risks, as getting pregnant accidentally or getting a disease from unprotected sex. 

El kept nodding, taking in all of the information. "That's the reason", she said then. "For not closing the doors."

"Yeah", Joyce nodded, looking at her. "We want you to be comfortable, exploring yourselves and your relationships, but not before you're completely ready. You and Will are too young for these things, but you all have the same rules when you like someone."

El looked at her then, shyly. "I like Mike."

Joyce hugged her with one arm, as they sat next to each other. "I know", she chuckled softly.

"You do?", El's eyes were wide.

"Well, I guessed. But I knew he likes you, he has a hard time not letting it show", Joyce laughed, then tapped the girl's nose. "Thank you, for telling me. But that means no closed doors for you two, either."

"Yes", El nodded, not really minding the fact at the moment. "When will I get my period?", she asked then, frowning slightly. The book had said that between twelve and fifteen, and she would turn fourteen in the summer.

"I don't know, honey", Joyce sighed, stroking her hair. "It could be because of the last year, that it's late", she said softly. "Because of not being able to eat, or rest normally. But you've gotten much healthier already, honey. If they don't come, we can go see a doctor and ask about it."

El looked at her hands. She hoped that she could've been normal, at least in things like these. A normal life sounded quite fun. She also didn't like the idea of a doctor. The one she had seen a few weeks back had probed her teeth with something, and while it hadn't hurt it hadn't been nice either. 

"I think I'm going to put some pads and tampons ready, in your bathroom", Joyce told her softly. "When it does start, it might hurt and you might get scared, but it's nothing to be afraid of. It's normal--."

 

Downstairs, Will and Jonathan lounged both on their own couches as Jim had taken the recliner and lifted his feet up. The TV was on, but none of them really watched it.

"Do I need to have the same speech with you?", Jim asked, looking at the boys. "What Joyce is having with El? Minus the part of what's it like being a girl."

"No", Will said, playing with a pillow. "I know enough."

"Yeah, no thanks", Jonathan said.

Jim laughed. "Good. You're smart kids. I'm sure you know what's right and all that."

 

It felt like the guests poured over on Sunday afternoon. Jim hadn't wanted to invite anyone from his work, even though Joyce told him he should. He had a clear line between work- and real friends, apparently.

The four families mingled together, going through the house in small groups on their own.

 

Nancy had gotten El a little present with her mother and put in on her table, while glancing around the girl's new room. El herself was helping in the kitchen at the moment, so it was just her and her family doing the round. 

El's room was the last stop of the tour.

"It's so pretty!", Holly squealed, and Karen nodded.

"It is", the woman said in awe. "Has she chosen the colors herself? I mean, I loved Will's room, too. That wall was amazing", Karen smiled. "They both have such a good taste."

"They painted the wall in Will's room together", Mike told her. "He and El, and Jonathan."

"They did?", she gasped.

The boy nodded before going to look at the pictures he had noticed, which El had put around her mirror. He blushed when he saw the strips of the two of them, at the snow ball. 

Nancy came to look at them too, immediately pointing at the same ones he had been looking at.

"Aw, Mike!", she teased, messing his hair. "That's so sweet!"

"Shut up", Mike muttered, looking at the rest of the pictures: of her new family, a few of her and Will, of her and all of the boys... Then he saw one of all of them, sleeping together in the same bed. 

El in the middle, with him cuddled by her side under the same blanket. Will with his arm around her. Lucas had turned away from them, while Dustin slept like a star fish, on his back and taking fourth of the bed alone.

"Is that from Will's birthday?", Nancy asked, while Karen, Ted, and Holly had come to look at the pictures, too.

"Yeah", Mike nodded. "I didn't know there even was a picture."

"Jonathan knows how to take good ones", Nancy smiled, looking at the other teen's art work on the wall. 

She smiled fondly at the one of her and El. She remembered the occasion, as it had been early January. They had been listening to music in Jonathan's room, lying on the floor on their backs one evening. Jonathan had wanted them to listen to a new album he had got, and the girls had ended up relaxing on the floor.

"Do you think", Karen begun, smiling at the pictures herself, too, "that we could get a copy of some of these?"

"Which ones?", Jonathan asked, having silently joined them.

"Hi", Nancy smiled, and he smiled back shyly.

"These pictures are amazing, Jonathan", Karen told the teen. "Simply adorable."

"I can develop you some of them, if you'd like", Jonathan told her, scratching at the back of his head. 

And Karen immediately pointed out her favorites, all with her son or Nancy in them, of course. 

Mike felt happy. El had got even more, than what he would've been able to give her. 

He had felt an immediate bang of jealousy after seeing the identical Christmas lights on the walls, both in Will's and El's room. Well, not completely identical, as hers had a few less colors. But after asking Will about it, he had understood it. 

It was to feel safe. 

They didn't sleep with knives under their pillows, like in horror movies and thrillers. They had lights on their walls to alert them of the possible monsters.

Mike glanced at the lights once more, hoping that they wouldn't flicker ever again.

 

After a while, the kids had gathered themselves to the basement. They had taken full plates of food and mugs of soda down with them, and sat around the table.

"Your new house is so cool", Dustin told the two. "When do you think we'll get to have the next sleepover?", he asked the whole group then.

El shrugged, remembering the conversation she had had with Joyce on Friday. She didn't feel embarrassed of the changes, that all of them would go through, no. She remembered the no-closed-doors policy and she was sure that it extended to sleeping in the same room, too.

"We could maybe play the next campaign here", Will suggested, the boys nodding.

"Do you want to play then, too, El?", Lucas asked her. "On the next campaign we have?"

"With my own character?", she looked at them with wide eyes.

"Yeah", Mike grinned. "We can start by making one for you together, if you'd like?"

"Now?", El asked, getting excited over the prospect of being able to play together with the boys.

"Why not?", Dustin grinned, turning to Will. "You have your binder?"

Will got up from the table, smiling widely. "Just a sec!", he told them, before heading upstairs.

"What would you like your character to be like?", Lucas turned to El.

The girl stared at the three. "What can it be like?"

"Anything", Mike said. "Will's a wizard and he can cast spells, Lucas is a rogue which is basically like a thief, and Dustin is a knight."

El's nose scrunched up a little in thought. Will then came back down, causing her attention to move back to him.

"Here", he said as he sat down, before opening the binder on the table before her and showing the contents. "There's a lot to read in this, so if you have something in mind already, it'll make this a bit easier", he turned to look at her, noticing the slight frown. "It's much, I know", he chuckled.

"What should I be, if I want to help you?", she asked Will. "Like with your wound?", she whispered, looking uncertain.

"Finally!", Dustin exclaimed. "Someone who wants to be a healer, yes!"

"Healer is a good choice", Mike said, and Will nodded.

"You can heal us, while playing, remove our fears and conditions", Will told her while turning the pages, him also getting excited.

"And you can have an unicorn", Lucas added.

"An unicorn?"

"Like this", Will told her, pointing at a picture. "It's a magical horse with a horn."

"Cute", El nodded, using a word she had learned from Holly. "I'm a healer", she told the boys then, who cheered loudly. Dustin wanted to high-five with her and she complied, having gotten used to the gesture already.

Then they looked at some pictures of different kinds of characters, and El wanted to be an elf. Which to the boys made a lot of sense, as elves were pretty and close to nature and that, but she liked the ears she saw in one of the pictures. And the long hair, too.

Mike wrote it all down. But El didn't understand why she had to choose a name. Again.

"Can't I just be...me?", she asked.

"The idea is to name the character, and you play as her", Dustin explained. "Not as you."

"We can name it after you, if you'd like?", Will suggested. "I'm Will the wise, so I don't mind."

But neither Dustin nor Lucas gave up just yet.

"El...El...Eleanor?", Lucas said. The room filled with laughter.

"What?", Will asked, looking at the other boys. "I think that was a good one."

El smiled. "That's what Mike said my name was. At school."

Mike grinned at her, twirling his pen in his fingers. "We bumped into Mr Clarke, when we tried to get to the AV class--."

Dustin interrupted him. "And he asked about her name, and she immediately answered Eleven--."

"To which Mike turned into Eleanor", Lucas laughed. Then he got serious. "Then we had to attend the gathering in the gym, for you", he told Will.

"After that, Troy got pushed down by Mike, before El made him piss himself", Dustin burst out, making everyone laugh again.

"Damp-pants!", Lucas grinned, high-fiving with Dustin.

"Aww..", Will got out, smiling widely despite his disappointment. "I really wish I had seen that."

El looked at him in wonder.

"Yeah", Dustin nodded, "it was pretty cool."

"You want to?", El offered her hand to him. "To see it?"

Lucas clapped his hands. "The best sister award goes to.. El!", he said dramatically, before ushering the two. "Show him!"

Will chuckled and took the offered hand. Then both of their faces went blank, as she started reliving the memory for him.

Dustin, Lucas, and Mike waited patiently, all of them grinning as they watched the pair intently. It was weird, watching them like that for the first time. 

Then Will closed his eyes and dropped his head to rest on the table, doubled over in laughter. El let out a soft giggle while looking at him with amusement, as he kept clenching her hand.

The rest of the boys sniggered at his reaction. Will lifted his head finally, wiping his eyes and chuckling a little. "That was the best thing I've seen in a while", he told El, smiling widely.

"Good", she smiled, squeezing his hand.

"So, Eleanor?", Mike cleared his throat, turning back to the paper. "I think that's a good one."

"Yes", El said, and Mike glanced at her to see the smile on her face. It send butterflies to his stomach. "Eleanor is good."

"Eleanor the elf", Dustin said.

"Eleanor the elegant", Lucas continued.

"Eleanor the..endearing", Will suggested, and El turned to him with a blank face. "Lovable", he shrugged.

"Eleanor the enthralling", Mike mumbled absently, looking at the notes he had already taken of her character.

"Ohh.. I like that!", Dustin exclaimed, as Lucas and Will nodded.

"What does it mean?", El asked, gaining Mikes attention by turning to him. "Enthralling?"

Mike turned crimson. "What?", he gulped.

"Enthralling", Dustin helped, "it means like, umm--."

"Captivating", Will continued, "like when you look at someone and you can't turn away", he told her.

Mike felt like he couldn't breath. "Umm.."

"You said it out loud", Lucas said in a low voice, after leaning closer, smirking at his friend. 

Mike covered his mouth in embarrassment.

"Eleanor the enthralling it is!", Dustin told him then, and Mike wrote it down. Another name he had given her. 

He suddenly felt too warm in his sweater.


	20. What I like about you

**What I like about you**

 

Nancy had told El all about Valentine's Day, before anyone else had got the chance. 

So, the girl had made cards for everyone that she wanted to. Separate ones for everyone in her family and one for Holly, Nancy, and Karen each (and Ted at the same time). She had made special ones for Will, Lucas, and Dustin. And even a more special one for Mike, shaped as a heart.

The boys hadn't spoke to her about the event, so she hadn't brought it up with them either. In the morning however, as she gave the cards she had made for her family, Will looked alarmed.

"You'll get yours in the afternoon, okay?", he told her.

"It's fine" El tried to brush it off.

"No", Will said sternly. "You'll get yours in the afternoon."

 

At the same time that El was giving the cards she had made for the occupants in the Wheeler family, Will waited for his friends outside. The roads had cleared enough for their bikes and they had agreed, on the day before, to get them out already.

Mike soon came out in a hurry, his whole face bright red.

"Huh", Will said, looking at his friend with a smirk. "She gave you her card?"

"Shut up", Mike mumbled, with a small grin on his face however, making his friend laugh.

"I actually forgot" Will confessed, after his laughter had died down. "But I'm going to make her a card during the day."

Mike groaned, covering his face. "I have no idea, what I'm going to do..."

Lucas and Dustin stopped next to Will, as Mike was opening the lock of his bike.

"Ready?", Lucas asked, before seeing Mike's expression. "Man, what's wrong with you?"

"El gave him a valentine's card", Will helped. "I got one, too." 

And just as Dustin and Lucas were going to argue about the lack in their part, the door opened. 

El peeked outside in only her shirt and skirt, waving two cards and smiling shyly to Dustin and Lucas.

"Can I give these, now?", she asked, eyeing the boys. "Or after school?"

"Now, please", Dustin chuckled. "It brings light to my sad life", he joked, as she came to him.

"Here", she said and Dustin smiled widely at the card, before pulling her into a one armed hug while keeping his bike upright.

"Happy Valentine's Day, El."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Dustin."

Then she went to Lucas, who looked really embarrassed. As he got the card he hugged her, also apologizing for not preparing anything for the morning.

"It's okay", she assured them all, shivering a little in the cold. 

"Go inside", Will grinned. "We'll come here, after school."

 

"Guys", Mike said in panic, when they were far enough from his house. "What should I get her?"

"What do you want to?", Lucas asked.

"What do people usually give?", Mike asked, frowning. His mother had pushed him some money before he had left, but he had no idea what to do with it. "Why am I so bad at this?", he complained then, making his friends laugh.

"Chocolate, flowers, jewelry...", Dustin listed. "Stuffed animals."

"El doesn't like stuffed animals", Will noted immediately.

"Really?", Lucas asked, with a frown on his face.

"How can someone not like stuffed animals?", Dustin wondered, staring at the road before them.

Will shrugged. "She just doesn't care about them, like kids normally do."

And Mike was actually quite relieved about that. He didn't like the look of his little sister's room, bombarded in teddies and stuff. Nancy kept hers hidden, but she had them, too. He was sure of it.

"I want to give her...something special", he said slowly, wondering if his words sounded weird.

"Yeah", Will agreed.

"I'm going for chocolate", Lucas announced.

"Me too", Dustin nodded.

"I'm making her a card, during the day", Will said. "I have art class today, and I've done the first assignments already."

"Teacher's pet!", Dustin declared.

 

"I'm getting her something small", Mike told his friends, while they were unlocking their bikes after school. "Like a bracelet, or something."

"You want us to come with you?", Will asked, eyeing him. 

Mike looked uncertain for a second, before he remembered the time in the flower shop. "Yeah", he muttered. Lucas patted his back.

"Let's go then!", Dustin hurried them. "Can't let her wait!"

 

When they hopped off their bikes outside the store, Mike felt confident. He turned to Dustin and Lucas. "If you want, you can go get the chocolates now, while we", he motioned between him and Will, "go in. Cool?"

"Sounds like a plan", Lucas nodded, before he dragged Dustin with him.

"What if they need me?", Dustin tried to reason, making Mike and Will chuckle.

"Why would they need you...", was all they heard from Lucas' response, before the two were too far already. The boys left turned to stare at each other, both still a little amused of their friend's reaction.

"You want me to come with you? Because I can wait outside, if you want", Will said, bringing them back to their mission, but Mike nodded.

"I need help", he confessed as they went inside to the store, which was packed with men on a scale from them to one leg already in a grave. 

Well, there were a lot of discounts on the day of the event, like always. And like Will had learned from his mother, men usually left things to the last second. He smiled, knowing that his friend just needed a mental support. So, as Mike went through different options, Will didn't say anything unless he didn't like what he saw. 

And now, a while later, his friend had two options left - two golden ones. Gold was in fashion, according to the sales person: 'You can't go wrong with it.'

"What do you think?", Mike asked Will, glancing at him briefly before focusing back to the bracelets. "I think I like this one", he gestured to the other.

"I like that more, too", Will admitted, after seeing the look on Mike's face. 

Desperation. His friend had two almost identical choices left.

"It looks more like...hers", Mike nodded.

 

"It's beautiful", El whispered, looking at the card Will had made. He had painted flowers with watercolors and glued the dry painting to a cardboard.

"Yeah?", he asked with a small smile on his face, and she nodded.

"Thank you", she hugged him, then Dustin and Lucas, thanking the two for the chocolates.

Mike looked uncomfortable the whole time, fiddling with a small box in his hands, and El wasn't sure what she should say to him. 

"I need to get home", Lucas said suddenly, getting his backpack. 

"Me too", Dustin nodded, the two of them quickly saying goodbye to their friends.

Will looked at Mike and El, before getting his backpack, too. "I'm just..", he pointed behind him. "Going to the living room, to start with my homework", he muttered as he backed away, leaving the two on their own into the kitchen.

El stood next to the island, fiddling with the ear of her tea cup that sat on the counter. She turned her curious eyes to Mike, who came closer, eyes still glued to the box in his hands.

"I wanted to get you...something special", Mike said in a low voice, briefly looking at her, before offering the box to her.

She took it, carefully, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Just... open it", he told her. 

And she did. It was a long, delicate, golden chain. Something she had seen on the people in magazines.

"Do you like it?", Mike asked, causing her to look up at him in wonder.

"For me?", she asked in a small voice. 

"What?", he asked, coming closer. "Of course for you", he said, embarrassed, carefully lifting up the bracelet. "You want me to...put it on?", he swallowed, looking at her and feeling uncertain.

El nodded, putting the box aside and offering her left wrist for him. And Mike put it around a couple of times, before clasping it. 

She twirled the bracelet around her wrist, smiling at the sight of it. Then she noticed the small golden heart, in the middle of the long chain, stopping to brush her fingers over it.

"Pretty", she whispered, looking up and locking her eyes with his dark brown ones. "Thank you."

"Happy Valentine's Day", Mike got out, taking the hand with the bracelet in his. 

"Happy Valentine's Day", El smiled, before she got on her toes and pecked his cheek softly. 

When she pulled away, Mike had his eyes closed. 

"Open your eyes", she said, confused, but he shook his head.

"I can't." Mike stroked her hand with his fingers.

"Why?"

"I'm...I'm trying not to blush", he said, embarrassed, and blushed right away.

She was about to tell him that he had failed already, but she went with a second kiss instead. 

This time to his lips.

 

The boys had suddenly, right after Valentine's Day, wanted to take El to see her first movie in a theatre. She let the four of them decide for her and soon they sat in their seats, ready for _The Breakfast Club._

There were a lot of people who she noticed were about their age. Some of them looked at her and their whole group a lot longer, than she would've liked them to. She didn't like the way they did it, something about it giving her a bad feeling.

But despite the loud voices and quite a few stares, El loved the occasion. She loved watching the movie from the big screen, the smell of popcorn in the air and her friends by her sides.

She loved the movie, yes. It was funny, although she didn't understand every joke or every reference. But what she loved more was the laughter of her friends, coming from both of her sides and surrounding her in what seemed like her own, private bubble of happiness.

And Mike was there, whispering to her ear almost the whole movie. They both leaned on the armrest between them, and he only had to turn his head a little for her to hear him. He explained the things on the screen to her, as well as he simply could. 

His breath tickled her ear as he spoke, and she found herself waiting for another moment when he'd come for her rescue again.

 

El had no idea what she should get Mike for his birthday. For Will she had got the figures of one of his favorite movies. For Lucas, when he had turned fourteen, she had got a joined present together with the rest of the boys, like they used to get each other. But something told her it was different with Mike.

She thought of asking him, but at the same time she wanted to keep it a secret. So, she had been an active part of the joined present with the boys, while trying to figure out her own little gift for him. She had money to pitch in. 

Like Will and Jonathan, El got pocket money from their parents. But also every time she took care of Holly on her own, or helped with dishes or something alike, Karen gave her small sums as a form of thanking her. 

The woman said that it was for teaching her the value of helping around, even in small things, and what money was worth in real life. And there were a lot of times in one week that the girl helped her with something, and not so many times for her to use the money she had earned.

 

As Mike's birthday came closer and closer, El got more nervous. 

She turned to Nancy then, on Monday a week before, for advice.

"I don't know", Nancy frowned. "I'm not good at presents either, especially not for him. I don't even know what he likes."

"What would you get for Jonathan?", El dropped the question so casually, that it made the teen drop her mouth open.

"I-I...", Nancy turned to the magazine in front of her, which they had been reading while lying on her bed. The boys were doing their homework downstairs. "Something that I know he would use, I guess? Or something nice. Or fun."

El frowned at her answer.

"I told you, I don't know", Nancy sighed, before turning to her. "Why don't you just ask him? Like, what he'd like to get?"

"Can I do that?", El wondered. "It won't be a surprise."

"But sometimes things that you know beforehand are better, than surprises", Nancy said.

El nodded after a long silence, before getting up from the bed. "I'm asking him now."

Nancy's chuckles followed her to the stairs, as she made her way to the dining room. She sat down at the table, next to Mike, and looked at her friends. They were surrounded by books. 

"Are you done?"

"Yeah, soon I guess...", Lucas mumbled, eyes on his book.

"I'm done", Dustin told her, smirking.

"That's because you won't help us with math", Lucas scoffed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Man, this sucks."

"We had these last year", Dustin pointed out.

"I couldn't do these even then", Will mumbled.

"Sorry", Mike turned to El, "that it's taking so long." 

But El had her attention on his homework. She then slowly pulled the pen out of his hand, and leaned in to complete his last problem. Mike stared at her face, which was suddenly really close, not realizing what she was doing. A few strands of her hair tickled his cheek.

Then she pulled away, as suddenly as she had leaned in. Mike looked down at his notebook and the answer there with a frown, before turning to Dustin. "What's the correct answer?"

"Negative four."

"Negative four", Mike repeated, turning to El with a grin.

"She got it right?", Will asked, leaning over the table to see, too.

"No way...", Lucas sighed, dropping his face to his hands. "Even El got it right on first try. Come on, Lucas", he mumbled to himself, before trying again.

"Now, you're done", El told Mike, who let Will copy his last problem. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure", Mike said, packing his books away at the same time.

"What do you want for your birthday?", she asked, getting his full attention.

"I-I..I don't know", he blinked. "You don't need to get me anything special", he hurried to tell her.

Will and Dustin sniggered, as Lucas made kissing noises absently from the other side of the table.

El lifted her eyebrows at their friends reactions but kept smiling at Mike, before touching his hand. _If you want something, even something small, I want to know,_ she pushed the thought to him.

It was once again one of those moments, that Mike wished he had the same powers as she did. "Okay", he whispered back. "Let me think about it."

El nodded, before turning away with a smile on her face. But she didn't pull her hand away.

"I was thinking", Dustin said then, getting their attention, "that we could play the next campaign soon."

"Is it ready yet?", Will asked Mike, who shrugged.

"Basically yeah", Mike said, making the rest of the boys cheer. "I still haven't figured out the end, though."

"How long will it take?", Lucas asked. 

"Till next week?", Mike shrugged. "We have a lot of homework now."

"On the next weekend, then?", Dustin asked and the rest agreed.

 

On Thursday, as the boys were about to head home from the Byers, Mike pulled El aside.

"I think I know what I want", he whispered to her, "for my birthday."

"What is it?", she whispered back.

"Umm", Mike swallowed, "maybe like a...date? With you?"

El scrunched up her face. "Date? A day?"

"Yeah, kind of", he nodded, starting to get uncomfortable under her intensive stare. "Just you and me. Doing something nice. Something fun."

 _Fun and nice._ Those were the two things that Nancy had mentioned to her. 

As a smile spread on her face, El nodded.

"My birthday is on Monday", Mike whispered and she nodded, already knowing it, "so I was thinking, that maybe we could go out on Sunday?"

She nodded again. "What do you want to do? On the date?"

Mike's cheeks were bright pink as he shrugged. "I'll come get you", he told her, "at noon."

"Okay", she said and took a step away from him as Joyce passed by, smirking at them.

 

"Mike's present is all done", Will announced on Saturday evening, as he came to El's room. Then he looked at the chaos she had made, with her clothes sprawled on the floor. "What's...going on?"

El sat on her bed, looking at the clothes. "I don't know what I'm going to wear."

"To where?", he asked, as he sat down next to her.

"Tomorrow", she said, "for a date. With Mike."

Will raised his eyebrows, before he grinned. "What?"

El nodded, picking up the closest dress. "He wanted a date, as a birthday present."

Will smiled. "Where are you going, then?"

"I don't know", she turned to him, eyes wide. "He said, he would come to get me."

"If you're on a bike then not a dress, at least", Will told her, making her frown.

"I like dresses", she muttered, putting the one on her hands back down.

"I know", he chuckled, "but I guess it's hard to bike in them? I haven't tried. But It's still cold. You could be outside, too."

"No skirt, either?", El confirmed, and Will nodded. The dresses and skirts begun to float back to the closet, the dresses hanging themselves up, but the skirts messily piling themselves onto a few shelves.

"Just...I don't know", his eyebrows furrowed, as he stared at her floating clothes. He then turned to the clothes left around the room. "Like those pants", he pointed at her purple ones, "and a nice shirt."

"You think?", she said, staring at the pants before looking at her shirts.

"Mike's pretty simple", Will shrugged with a smirk on his face. "And he thinks you're always pretty. If that's what you're worried about."

And he could see that he had been right, because El immediately started fumbling with her sleeve. 

"Oh come on, El. You can't be serious", he laughed, getting up and going to her.

El shrugged, avoiding his eyes.

"You're like, really pretty. And Mike has a hard time around you because of it", Will told her, before his face fell. "Don't tell him that I told you that. He'd kill me."

But El came to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Thank you", she told him.

He hugged her back shyly. "No problem."

He was used to her hugs already - but it didn't mean that they didn't surprise him, when they usually came out of the blue. It was like...when she wanted a hug, she went for it. Not like him, as he usually repressed the feeling.

"Why haven't you told Lucas?", El asked him suddenly, making his brows furrow.

"Told him what?", he asked, as she pulled away and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"That you like him", she said, face all serious.

"I...", Will swallowed, dropping his hands. "I can't."

"Why not?", she questioned. "Because of the mouth breather?"

He let out a chuckle, before shaking his head. "I don't know."

"What if he likes you?", she asked him.

Will's heart skipped a beat. "He doesn't. Not like that."

"Do you know?", she pressed. "Or do you think?"

"You're too smart", he dropped his head, covering his eyes with his bangs.

"I am?"

"You are."

She then bonked her head against his. "Tell him, Will."

Will nodded, their foreheads brushing together. "When I get the right moment, yeah."

"Good."

They stood a moment like that, foreheads pressed together in silence.

"I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad to be here, Will."

 

Will laid in bed that night, listening to the silence and staring at the lights on his wall.

Why couldn't he tell Lucas? He was his friend and he wouldn't, probably, run away if he did tell. But he was afraid that he would. And he valued their friendship so much, that he wasn't really sure if he could give it up. 

Even if it meant for him to feel awkward...even for the rest of his life.

El was right, though, on what she had said. But he wasn't brave like she was. He would never be. 

He didn't exactly care what other people would say, he cared what _he_ would think of him.


	21. I have run, I have crawled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. THANK YOU ALL FOR HITS, COMMENTS, AND KUDOS! Here's another chapter! - preciousbean

**I have run, I have crawled**

 

Mike waited outside the Byers-Hopper house, ten minutes before noon. He drummed his fingers against the handlebar restlessly, trying to calm his beating heart down.

He glanced at the windows upstair and noticed Will at his bedroom window, waving at him. Mike waved back, smiling quite awkwardly.

It was what he had asked El for his own birthday, a date. 

They were always surrounded by the rest of the boys, or his sisters, or parents. He couldn't even think straight when he was with her. And with others around he would feel even more embarrassed about it. 

The door opened and she took, once again, his breath away. She looked so normal, dressed in her purple pants and her already familiar brown jacket. But somehow the fact that she did indeed look normal, was the thing that messed with his head so badly.

"Um", he swallowed, before offering her a shy smile. "Hi."

"Hi", she smiled, stopping next to him. "I will get my bike--", she begun, but got interrupted.

"No, don't", Mike said. "Y-you can sit on the back."

El stared at him for a few seconds. "Like before", she whispered.

"Yeah."

She got on and wrapped her arms around his middle, and he left the yard feeling lighter than ever before. It felt like he had completed a hard puzzle, or a brain teaser, or something alike. 

"I missed this", Mike told her as he biked towards the town, choosing the prettiest route he could think of. "Last year, every time I was on my bike. I missed this."

"You did?", El asked, getting a better hold. 

"Yeah", he got out, before clearing his throat. His voice sounded strange, even to him. "...I missed a lot of things. This was one of them."

He felt El rest her head against his back, and he smiled at the feeling.

 

As they were closer to the town, she lifted her head back up. "What do you want to do?", she asked.

"It's a little cold", Mike told her, "so I thought I'd take you to an arcade, first."

"Arcade?", she questioned.

"It's a place where you pay to play different games. It's really fun."

He unfortunately missed the wide smile on El's face, after his words. _Fun._

 

El insisted on paying and made Mike feel a little embarrassed, but he went on with it after she pleaded on his birthday. She then looked around the games with wide eyes, before turning to Mike.

"Which one do you want to play?", she asked. 

He simply grinned, taking her hand and pulling her with him.

"This one." They stopped in front of the first one, which had been empty. "Space Invaders. It's a shooting game. I'll show you", he said, before pointing to a hole on the front of the machine. "You just put a coin in - yeah, that one - and then press 'start'".

El looked with fascination, standing by his side, as he showed her how it worked. 

"You are good", she told him.

Mike chuckled a little. "I've played a lot."

When he lost, with a lot of points, he motioned for El to try.

"You move like this", he showed her, "and then you just shoot the aliens."

She nodded, doing as told.

"Yeah!", he laughed, standing next to her and watching. "Shoot that", he told then, pointing at a larger ship on top of the screen.

"It's not coming down", she frowned.

"It won't", he told her, "you just need to shoot it the moment you see it."

El nodded and did her best. When she lost, she felt bad, before turning to the boy by her side. 

Mike was grinning widely, his eyes on the screen. "You did really well, El!"

They tried Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Galaxian, and also Defender after the first one.

 

"Wow", Mike sighed after the last game on Pac-Man, to which they had eventually came back to. "You learn these really fast", he told her in awe.

El shrugged, smiling. 

"Do you want to go somewhere else?", he suggested, and she nodded. "Where?"

"Where do you want to go?", she asked instead, making him chuckle.

"I don't know", Mike shrugged, with a grin on his face. "Um, maybe we could go get hot chocolates? Or something."

"Yes", El said, before shyly reaching over and taking his hand.

Mike felt like skipping.

He didn't do that, though, he was at least that much aware of his surroundings.

 _At least_ that much.

 

They decided on the nearest place, a diner. Taking the last booth, to get some privacy, they sat face to face.

"I can pay this time", Mike offered, but El shook her head.

"I'll pay", she promised. "It's for your birthday."

"And I said I wanted a date", he told her. "Guys are supposed to pay on dates, okay?"

El frowned at that. "Why?"

"I don't know", Mike said slowly while looking at her, his brown eyes warm and full of wonder. "It's just what they do, I guess."

"What if.. it's a present", El leaned over the table slightly, to get a little closer, "I can pay, then?"

A wide smile crept on Mike's face. "I still want to pay", he told her. 

El eyed him for a few long seconds, before leaning back and taking the menu in her hands.

"What do you want?", he asked her, starting to looking at the list, too.

"Milkshake?", El asked. "What is it?"

"You've never had a milkshake before?", Mike looked at her with wide eyes. 

She blinked at him.

"Then we're getting one."

El hummed in agreement. "And fries."

"And a hot chocolate", Mike said with a grin. "Because that's what we came for."

 

They ordered and then waited. El straightened her legs, tangling them with his under the table. 

Mike swallowed, eyeing her nervously. 

She had taken her jacket off, like he had, revealing a white sweater underneath. He had green but otherwise quite a similar one on, which made him feel quite giddy. It was like they were matching, somewhat, but not overdoing it like some couples did.

He noticed the bracelet on her wrist and reached for her hand on the table.

"You're wearing it", Mike noted, as he clasped her hand in his.

"Yes", she smiled. "Every day."

"Y-yeah?", he stuttered. He really hadn't noticed, not every day.

"I like it", El told him, bringing her free hand to run her fingers over the small golden heart. "And it was a present, from you."

Mike, on the other side of the table, lifted his free hand to his face. He rubbed his chin first, then cheek, before leaning onto it. He stared at her, and he didn't even bother to hide it. 

Her hair was getting longer quite fast, and fell now past her chin in soft curls of dark brown hair. It had even been cut once already, to even the ends. It would reach her shoulders soon. 

It had become a measurement of time for him, her hair. How short it had been, when he had first met her. How long it had been, when they had seen each other again after a year, and how much it had grown from there.

Time didn't make sense to him otherwise, not with her.

They had met, hugged, held hands, and kissed. All that in one week. Which had then been followed by a year of nightmares and searching her, for him, while she had been fighting and surviving. 

He still couldn't truly understand that she was there, at the moment asking him what a sweetener was and calling his name with her soft voice full of wonder.

Mike didn't let go of her, even when their orders came and he could only use his left hand. El didn't pull her hand away either, which eased his nervous mind a lot.

They ate in an almost complete silence, and neither felt awkward by it. 

And El loved strawberry milkshake. He let her have the whole drink, grinning as she beamed at him.

 

They jumped on his bike afterwards, deciding to go and visit the park. It felt like something that people normally did on dates, so Mike had suggested it.

And as they started walking down the path, after locking his bike, he could easily understand why. 

It was calming, comforting even, walking side by side with El and to simply look at different things around them. With her.

March had never been his favorite month. With or without his birthday it would still look grey and boring, being right in the between of winter and spring. But when El decided to suddenly stop and look at the birds in the pond, and the older man feeding them, he started to realize something.

He had been paying attention to the wrong things.

So he stopped with her, taking her hand in his. "We should do that, the next time."

"Yes", she gave him a small smile, before turning back for a while longer.

 

"You haven't told me about last year", El said suddenly, when they had continued their slow walk along the path. "After I left", she continued.

"I have--", Mike begun.

"No", she interrupted him. "About Will, Dustin, and Lucas, yes. But not about you", she said softly, glancing at him and giving his hand a squeeze. "Why?"

"I-I don't know", he cast his eyes down, squeezing her hand back.

"Mike", El said softly, peering at his face. "You can tell me."

"I know", he muttered, looking at her. "It's just...It was hard, you leaving."

"It was the only way", she whispered. Her eyes were pleading him for forgiveness.

Mike couldn't say that he agreed with her, because he didn't. He would even have ran away with her, in order to have her stay, he knew it.

"I really missed you", he told her instead, turning to look at the ground before them.

"I missed you", El whispered. "Every day."

Mike pulled her aside from the path a while after, up a hill and towards a bench in the middle of the frozen ground. They sat down and he breathed out the air he had been holding. Both of them looked down, at the park and the pond. 

 

"I didn't take it well", Mike said suddenly, turning sideways to her. His features were pained, when he continued: "I went to the quarry."

El slid down the bench to get closer to his side, her face slightly scrunched up.

"To where you saved me, from falling", he turned to look at his hands, which he rested in his lap. 

She brought her mitten clad hand over his, and he took a tight hold of it. 

"I thought that maybe, you would... you would come back", Mike tried to explain, stumbling over his words. "Like that time, if I--." 

He couldn't continue. Instead, he let out a choked sob. There were no tears, just the memories and the pain.

"But you didn't do it", El whispered, dropping her head against his neck and closing her eyes. 

"Dustin knew where to come", Mike got out, before closing his eyes, too, and leaning his cheek against her head. "He, Lucas, and Will... they came."

"Good", she whispered.

He could hear and feel her sniffle against his skin. "I'm so sorry..."

"No--."

"You were so strong. All along...you were so strong", he told her. "And I...I wasn't."

"Mike", El lifted her head up, to see him. "I gave up."

She looked at him with such misery and hurt, that his own feelings felt like nothing. How her eyes could show her feelings like that, better than he could ever express his with words, was beyond him.

"There was no gate", Mike told her, gently stroking her arms through her jacket, "after they destroyed it."

"But there was, before. I didn't use it."

"It went straight to the lab, El..."

"Yes", she agreed fast, before stopping. She stared at him, countless emotions flashing through her features, before stopping to only a few of them. Sad, afraid, and guilty. 

Mike was just about to say something, to comfort her, before she let out a strangled sound.

She was crying. And he hated it.

"I killed them, Mike", she whispered. 

"They tried to get you", he hurried to tell her, as he took of his gloves and wiped away the few tears on her face, "to get you back there."

"I killed them", she repeated, closing her eyes. 

"El, it's fine", he whispered.

"I didn't want you to know", she breathed out.

And then, Mike understood. He pulled El to him, swallowing hard. And she clutched at the back of his jacket, like her life depended on it. 

Mike rubbed her back, breathing in her scent and trying to calm down, as he broke into tears. El cried against his jacket, trying to catch her breath in the between of her violent sobs. 

He told her every reassuring word he got out, meaning each and every one of them.

It was cold, being March. But they didn't feel it. 

It was just them, and the air felt easier to breath after every passing minute.

 

When El lifted her head back up and had wiped her face, Mike looked down at her and realized how content he felt. He smiled softly, looking at her red nose and tear tracked cheeks. She then lifted her hands to his face, to wipe at his cheeks, too.

"I really like you", he got out, looking down at her. He didn't even feel awkward or embarrassed telling her that. He felt good.

El smiled at him, her hands stopping to rest on his cheeks. 

His words were so normal, as she knew how much everyone used the "like" word. But they made her warm and happy. She looked into his eyes with her soft brown and a little playful ones. 

"I like you, too", she whispered. "A lot."

"A lot, a lot", Mike nodded, smiling widely as a shaky laugh escaped his throat.

"I'm sorry", El blurted out then. "For making you cry on a date. Day before your birthday", she told him, brows furrowed in worry.

"I'm glad you did. I needed that", he assured her. 

He then noticed how she glanced down at his lips for a few seconds, before looking back into his eyes. 

His face felt like it was in flames.

Mike wanted to move her into his lap, like in the small photo booth in the snow ball. 

He wanted to do all kinds of things. 

Things, which he had been thinking late in the night, feeling sometimes embarrassed about them. Nothing to indecent, seriously, he was still a boy. But still...stuff he wasn't sure if she was ready for. And he liked to play by her rules. 

So he simply pulled El closer to him, with his arms that he had around her, and lowered his lips to hers. 

It was breathtakingly slow. 

How long their lips touched, before nothing else happened. But then, startling him, she parted her lips a little to take a deep breath before kissing him again.

It was different, and it felt too good for him to think straight. He never would have wanted that kiss to end. 

But Mike pulled away, breathless, not sure if he could keep himself together much longer. 

El opened her eyes, and his heart skipped a beat when she looked up to him.

 

He had to take her home, after they had finished the path around the park. They rode back as the sun set and the air got chillier. 

She leaned against his back, her arms around his middle, and he basked in the warmth of her.

 

El had been slower on Monday morning. 

She took a little longer to choose her clothes, ending up with jeans and long sleeved, soft pink shirt, nothing out of the ordinary. Not too fancy either, as the boys would come straight from school to celebrate Mike's birthday.

Will had already wired Mike's present, wrapped in a plastic bag, on the back of her bike. 

The sight made her smile. 

 

El went over to the Wheeler's, glad that she'd get to help with the preparations of Mike's party.

"Good morning, honey", Karen greeted her with a quick kiss on the girl's forehead as she passed her in the hall to the kitchen, to answer a phone call.

"Morning", El smiled at the gesture.

She took the present straight to the basement table, smiling softly at the blanket fort. The way she always did, when she came down. 

Once back upstairs she went to the kitchen, to make sure Holly ate her breakfast while Karen spoke on the phone.

"Yes, of course, I'll tell him", Karen said cheerily, but when El glanced at her, she didn't even smile. "I'll tell him. Bye now...bye...", she said, before ending the call with a sigh.

"Are you okay?", El asked, worried. 

Karen turned to her, looking guilty. "Yes, I'm fine", she tried to smile. "Ted's sister, my sister-in-law, called. She wanted me to tell Ted, that he needed to call her." She looked at the phone with a frown. "...she didn't even remember Michael's birthday."

El's brows furrowed. She turned to look at Holly, who ate her cereal with reluctance while wanting to leave the table already.

 

She prepared for a mock exam that morning, which Karen and Nancy had made for her. El hadn't had that kind of exams before and she was ecstatic. Feeling already nervous about the exam at school, which she would have to take later in the spring, she accepted every possible help she could get.

Math was easy, as you just solved the problems. The other subjects needed text and sometimes she just didn't understand the words, so she had to check what they meant first. A dictionary saved her, in those moments. El sometimes stared at it, wondering if she could bring it to the school, too.

On some subjects she was more than a grade behind her own age, like with social studies and English. Well, those things could be easily explained to the school with her papers, which had Stockholm, Sweden, as her birth place. Or so the adults had told her. 

She had actually got a few books from the library of Swedish language, so she could say a few phrases if someone asked her to. She had even found some cassettes about it. And it sounded like a lot simpler language, than the one she had heard the people, who she had had to find, to speak.

El played with her bracelet. Like she did every time, when she thought hard about something in the books or in life itself. It had become some sort of reassurance for her, in the past month, to which she needed to touch if she didn't have her family, friends, or Mike around.

 

El made brownies with Karen after lunch, while Holly ran around her.

"Holly, honey", Karen said, almost loosing her patience with her daughter. "You should go play."

"No", Holly giggled, brushing her hand against El's legs while she ran around them. El rolled her eyes, before grabbing the girl and lifting her up. Holly immediately wrapped her legs around her waist and arms around her neck, giggling.

Karen knew her youngest wasn't heavy, but El was still kind of small. Even Will, who had been of light build ever since she had first seen him, had grown past her. But the girl kept the toddler up with ease, at the moment making faces with her.

"You girls are so silly", Karen smiled, shaking her head. 

The girls giggled, before El lifted Holly to the counter before her, keeping her hands at the girl's sides.

"What is next?", El asked, having turned back to baking.

 

There were balloons all over the floor, with which El and Holly were having fun with when the boys came downstairs.

"Whaaaat", Mike laughed, being the first to come down. The balloons, the food on the table... And the present in the middle of the plates and bowls.

"Happy birthday!", El and Holly yelled at the same time, throwing some balloons at the boys.

They grinned and laughed, before all of them hugged Mike at the same time, repeating the girls' words. Holly ran to hug Mike, giggling as he had to lean down. Then it was El's turn and they kept it short, smiling shyly to each other afterwards.

"Open your present!", Lucas hurried Mike to the table.

"It's from all the four of us", Dustin told him, as the boy pulled the box closer to himself.

Mike turned to look at El with furrowed brows, but she offered him one of those smiles that told him not to worry. So he opened it, revealing an individually wrapped present inside, not a bunch of stuff like usually. 

He lifted it, what seemed to be another box, and looked at his friends. "What's this?"

"Open it!", Lucas told him.

"You won't know before you do", Dustin chuckled.

And Mike opened it, revealing the 1983 version of the Dungeons and Dragons.

"We know it's late", Will told him immediately, as he stared at the cover.

"But it's a lot better, than the -81 version", Dustin continued.

"Or so we have heard", Lucas nodded along, all of them looking at their friend and waiting for his reaction.

"You...", Mike swallowed, turning to look at the three of them. "You used all your money...on this?", he asked them, chuckling in awe.

"We decided to save for it, last year, when we realized it would've been the perfect gift", Lucas admitted.

"But still, it's a lot", Mike told them, looking back at the box.

"You're the DM, Mike", Will said, "of course you should get it".

"Thanks", Mike got out, and they boys gathered around him for another group hug.

El looked at them, with a huge smile on her face. She had known that he would like it.

"You should thank El, too", Lucas said, when the boys had pulled away from each other. "She saved our asses."

"You would've had to wait another year, if she hadn't", Dustin chuckled.

Mike turned to her then, eyes wide and a huge grin on his face. "You did?", he breathed out.

She blushed a little. "It's okay", El told Mike, who came to her and wrapped her in an embrace.

"You didn't need to", he said, feeling her nod against his shoulder.

"I wanted to."

He was really glad his back was to the rest of the boys at the moment, otherwise they would've teased him about his pink cheeks. 

 

They goofed around the basement the whole afternoon, listening to music and playing small games. And El, Dustin, and Lucas danced, every once in a while, before forcing Mike and Will with them.

"I don't get it", Lucas chuckled, looking at Will. "What's so hard about it?"

Will wanted to get away from the situation, trying to escape, but Lucas pulled him back by the arm.

"Come on! Just, relax", he told Will.

The boy glared at him, embarrassed. "I don't know..."

Lucas glanced at El, then, who was dancing while she and Dustin teased Mike.

"Let's do the same thing", he said then, reaching for Will's hands, "than what we did with El."

And Will swore that he blushed, as his friend took hold of both of his hands. "O-okay..."

"Close your eyes", Lucas told him. He was dancing in his place, keeping the rhythm while guiding his friend into it, too.

"Why?", Will asked, concentrating really hard into getting the word out without a stutter.

"So you can concentrate on the music."

Will looked at him, unsure, but the glare he got from Lucas made him obey.

"And now", he heard Lucas say, "just dance."

Maybe Will would've been able to do it better, but Lucas made him nervous. 

 

As Lucas tried to get Will to relax and dance with them, Dustin going to show the boy how fun it could be, El focused on Mike.

He looked a little awkward, so she took his hands with a small smile on her face and guided him to the rhythm.

"I'm so bad at this", he told her, frowning. "I feel like I have two left feet."

El looked down at his feet then, confused.

"A figure of speech", Mike chuckled. "I hope", he added, glancing at his feet, before nodding. "Yeah, a figure of speech", he told her, all serious.

El brought her arms around his neck and he immediately lifted his own to her waist. She begun to sway a little, moving him along.

"This is a faster song", he pointed out.

She shook her head. "Forget the song."

"It's hard", Mike frowned, glancing down at his feet again.

Then the music changed, to a slower beat.

"El", they heard Will chuckle.

"You can't just change the music whenever you want", Lucas huffed, making Mike blush.

"Shut up", El told the boys, her voice soft and eyes never leaving Mike's. "Easier now?"

He looked at her, smiling crookedly. "You're amazing", he blurted out, before his face became even redder. 

Mike resisted against the need to hide, as the boys laughed at them.

Lucas ruffled his hair, before heading up. "Were going to get some more sodas, okay?" 

Dustin and Will followed their friend, chuckling.

 _I'll hold them, for a while,_ Will's voice came to her head, making her smile even more.

_Thank you._

_Do something already._

And like it had been Mike, to who Will had been talking to telepathically, he leaned down to kiss her.

It was hasty and a little sloppy, not like the last kiss they had shared the day before, but it made their hearts beat in unsteady rhythms.

She brought her hands up to his silky hair, and he moved his own from her waist to her back. And with a small kiss, she pulled slightly away. 

El stared at his face, loving everything about it. His long lashes, his nose, lips, freckles... She knew that she could still see the scar on his chin, although faded, if she had been able to take a look.

He locked his eyes with hers.

She wanted to call him pretty. And at the same time she knew that he had an idea about pretty things in his head, like everyone seemed to have, and his probably didn't have himself among them.

"Handsome", she whispered slowly. "Really handsome."

It had to do, even though he was a lot more than that.

But Mike chuckled softly, staring her. He felt the heat on his face, but ignored it.

"Beautiful. Really beautiful."

 

"I don't want to go back just yet", Will explained to Dustin and Lucas, who had tried to go back down already. "It's awkward."

"You know, I love El", Dustin chuckled, "but man... she and Mike are sometimes just a little too sappy, that l can't stand it."

"Can you blame them?", Lucas asked, leaning against the kitchen counter and next to Will.

"Yeah... not really, no", Dustin agreed, shaking his head a little.

They were silent for a while, as Mrs. Wheeler walked past them, giving them an amused smile.

"I bet she's giving him another present", Dustin said then, earning a slap to his arm from Lucas.

Will groaned, covering his face. "Shut up!"

"What?", Dustin asked, eyeing his friends. "Guys, come on. You know what they're doing."

"I'm too innocent for this", Will mumbled against his hands. He then felt a hand in his hair, and lowered his own to look at Lucas.

"You had popcorn in your hair", Lucas said, lifting an eyebrow at him, while showing him the snack between his fingers.

"Are there more?", Will asked, lifting his hands to feel his hair.

"Turn your head."

And gently, Lucas checked his hair.

"You look like a monkey couple", Dustin remarked with a chuckle.

Will turned red and was ready to say something back, but Lucas' monkey noises interrupted him. 

So instead he laughed with Dustin, as their friend continued his show. 

It was cute. Will wished that he could've seen him, but even the feeling of Lucas playing around, behind him, tousling his hair with his fingers... It was quite nice.

 

Jim had taught Will, and El at the same time, how to play baseball. It was a weak point of Will's and he had wanted to practice it in peace, before they'd have it in school for a few weeks. They practiced the rules, throwing the ball, and, most importantly to Will, swinging the bat.

After El and Will had went to bed in the evening, and Jim and Joyce had followed their lead a while after, he just knew.

Jim simply knew, that it would be one of those nights again.

He had left their door open, and picked up a book. Joyce had cuddled to his side, falling asleep quite fast as he kept stroking her hair. It was a gesture that calmed him, and he was sure that she knew it. But she didn't mind.

Concentrating on the book was hard, as he knew it was just a matter of time.

First he heard Chewy's nails scratch along the wooden floor upstairs. A sound he wouldn't have heard, if he hadn't been anticipating it. 

Jim was quite sure that the next sound he heard was from a door, and he put his book away. 

Then another door opened upstairs, and he heard a cry.

The nightmares hadn't left them, and neither he or Joyce were sure if they ever would.

Jim made his way upstairs, passing Will's room as his bed was empty, feeling the familiar weight tug at his heart once again. He could hear the sobs, even before he opened the door to El's room.

Will was already there, sitting on the edge of her bed and keeping her company. El sat with her knees up, hiding her face against them, while clutching the boy's hand. And Chewy, that scruffy looking dog, sat by the bed and rested his head on the mattress next to his two favorite small people.

"Hey", Jim whispered, coming to them. "Go back to sleep, Will", he murmured, stroking the boy's back gently.

Will glanced at him, and he could see the worry in his eyes.

"I'll stay here", Jim assured him.

After a few seconds, Will nodded, before he turned back to El. "I'll see you in the morning", he whispered, gently pulling his hand away from her hold. 

And he immediately regretted doing so, as she let out a whimper.

"Honey", Jim hushed, as he sat down next to her curled up form. "Will needs to go to school tomorrow."

"I can stay", Will tried, "it's okay."

"N-no", El said then, voice just above a whisper. "Sorry..."

Jim sighed softly, wrapping an arm around her. She leaned her whole form against him, and he could feel her trembling.

"I'll see you in the morning", Will repeated his words to her, offering her a smile even though she couldn't see it. 

 

_"I know it's scary", Will whispered._

_El sat on the edge of his bed, wrapped in a blanket that she had brought with her. She had been awake and felt his discomfort, coming to wake him up before his dream had got worse._

_"Why?", she whispered. "Why is it scary? To sleep?"_

_He knew what she meant, after having gone through the same thing himself. "You just need to be brave, El", he told her softly. "What happens in dreams...it's not real. It might feel like it, but it's not."_

_"What if it is?", El turned her eyes on him, searching his face for an answer. "What if this is not real?"_

_Will offered her a small smile. "This is real."_

_She looked doubtful, her eyebrows knit together in thought. "How do you know?"_

_"Because", he begun, thinking of an answer for her. "Because... no matter what, you will wake up in the morning, in your own bed. And... if you don't believe it, that it's not a dream, you just need to come find me, okay?"_

_El stared at him for a while, thinking about his words. "I'll see you in the morning", she whispered then, "even if the night was bad?"_

_"Yeah, El, no matter what", he nodded. "I'll see you in the morning."_

 

"Yes", El breathed out, but didn't lift her head from where she rested it on her knees. "See you in the morning."

When Will had left, Chewy following him soon after, Jim settled them to the bed. He leaned against the headboard like usual, El securely wrapped in her covers and lying back down.

"Want to talk about it?", he murmured, stroking her hair.

"No."

"Want to talk about something else?"

"...yes."

"What do you want to talk about?"

El was quiet for a while and Jim simply kept stroking her hair, not wanting to push her. Then she lifted up a hand, bringing it to his wrist.

"This", she whispered, before touching the blue scrunchie with a finger. "Sarah?"

It was a gentle question. She wasn't asking if she was right, she was asking about her. 

If he could tell her, about Sarah.

And there, in the darkness of the night, he opened up. 

Jim told her the story of Sarah, starting from the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. We're moving on with the plot... Ps. Slow build is my thing, sorry.


	22. The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. THANK YOU once again for reading, commenting, and the kudos <3
> 
> Luv, preciousbean

**The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows**

 

It was officially spring, as the trees were turning green and the air got a little warmer each week.

Will had to take a double look at El one morning, who came downstairs for breakfast and went straight to their mother's arms. 

She had a large hoodie on, which was nothing like her, except sometimes in the evenings if she felt cold.

"Mom", El muttered, so quietly that Will wasn't sure if he had heard correctly.

Joyce wrapped her arms around the girl. "Oh, honey", she kissed her head. "Are you tired?"

"Hurts."

"Oh", Joyce muttered, before she noticed the hand, which El rested on her stomach. "Oh... I can give you something for that, come with me, sweetie... It'll be alright."

"Is she sick?", Will asked, staring at the two retrieving backs as they went to the bathroom, getting a little worried.

"No", Jonathan answered, looking at him with a lifted eyebrow.

Jim sipped his coffee, staring at the paper in front of him, trying to ignore the whole situation.

When the two came back and El sat down at the table, across from Will, he noticed how pale she was.

"She's staying home today", Joyce informed Will, who looked at them with worry. "I'll call Karen for you, alright?", she told El then, who nodded, staring at her cereal bowl.

"Are you okay?", Will asked, nudging her leg gently under the table. 

Jonathan ruffled his hair, making him feel like he had missed something.

El lifted her gaze to meet his, blinking. "Yes", she said, before offering him a small smile. 

 

"It's that time of the month", Dustin told him, after Will had explained his morning to the boys, as they biked to school.

Will blushed. "Of course."

"You should read your biology book again", Lucas laughed, shaking his head.

"How should he know?", Mike asked. "It's not like he has been around many girls, going trough, well, those things."

"Well, I know", Lucas said. "I don't even have any siblings. Soon I'll have one, but it's another boy. I have no experience, either."

"Me neither", Dustin chimed in. "And we don't even have girlfriends."

Mike blushed at Dustin's words, being grateful that his friends concentrated more on the road, than they did on him.

"And still, we're the ones who got it", Lucas shrugged. 

Will scrunched his nose, thinking. 

He then thought about how much energy it would take, to connect El from school, without seeing her. It was a longer distance than before, but it was worth the try.

She would be alone the whole day, and that was something she hadn't done after coming back.

 

"Can I come over today?", Mike asked Will after lunch, as they walked to their next class.

"Yeah, sure", Will nodded, glancing at him. 

Mike stared at the floor while walking, like he always did at school. 

"Cool", the boy said, smiling for a few seconds.

Will wondered, if they would all have it easier when El would go to school with them in fall. 

Not easier with the bullies, but with the constant reminder that she was there and fine. She cheered them up in a way, that he hadn't knew he needed. Not before she came into their lives.

El had actually helped with the bullies already, without knowing it herself. Troy and his gang hadn't came near them anymore, settling for glaring at them from further away. And of course calling them names, but that was something they could ignore.

And apparently, Jennifer Hayes had really taken a liking into El. 

It had took until the end of March for El to call the girl, as she had lost the number after the snow ball. But now they met a few times a week, for the past month or so. 

Jennifer helped El with her English and writing, and had started talking with Will too, at school. He didn't really mind. Jennifer was nice, and everyone treated him and his friends a little better, now that they were apparently friends with the girl.

 

Their last period was social studies, Will's least favorite one. He got trough the first half without dozing off even once, doodling on his notebook while taking notes, but the last half was a lot harder. 

So, in the safety of the back row and next to Lucas, behind Mike and Dustin, he closed his eyes and tried to connect to El. He had a tissue ready in his pocket, for these kind of things.

 _Can you hear me?_ , he kept repeating, picturing her face and their home in his mind, as hard as he could.

"Is he sleeping?", he heard Dustin whisper, after a while.

"I don't know", Lucas hissed. "Turn back around."

 _El. Can you hear me?_ , he said, over and over again, in his mind.

Will felt the warm wetness and he got the tissue, blindly lifting it to his nose and keeping it there.

 _Will?_ , her voice suddenly filled his head, almost causing him to open his eyes. 

But he managed to keep the connection in place, despite the shock of suddenly succeeding. 

_Stop_ , El told him sternly, making him smile. _It's too much, too far away._

 _But are you okay?_ , Will asked. 

_Yes._

_School's almost over, I'll come home then, with Mike._

_Three fifteen. I know._ He could almost feel the smile on her face, before she closed the connection. 

Will opened his eyes, and removed the tissue from under his nose.

"You okay?", Lucas leaned in to whisper, glancing at the amount of blood, before focusing on his friends face. 

"Yeah", Will nodded, pressing the tissue back to his nose. "I'm fine...it's just a nosebleed."

But Lucas didn't feel convinced. He kept glancing at his friend for the reminder of the class, feeling slightly worried. 

He hated blood. But what he hated even more, was seeing blood on someone dear to him.

 

As Will and Mike came to the living room, El had just put on her third movie: Star Wars VI. 

She sat on the couch under a blanket, with Chewy laying next to her and resting his head on her lap. A tub of ice cream, with a spoon sticking out of it, was in her hands and wrapped a little with the blanket.

El turned to look at them. "Hi."

"Hi", Will smiled, before turning to the dog. "You're not supposed to be on the couch." 

Chewy wagged his tail, as he looked at Will from his spot. 

"Down", he continued, pointing at the ground, and the dog slowly obeyed.

"Do you want to watch this, with me?", El asked softly.

She looked so small while drowning in the huge hoodie, which she had found from somewhere around the house, absently poking the hard ice cream with a large spoon.

"Yeah, sure", Mike said, coming to sit next to her, as Will took her other side.

"Oh, it's so warm", Will chuckled, taking a more comfortable position.

"Chewy laid there, for a while", she admitted.

"I can tell", he laughed.

"How come the sixth?", Mike questioned, after the commercials and trailers had stopped, and the yellow text started to flow up the screen.

"Watched the first two, already", El said, making him grin.

"Is there more ice cream?", Will asked her then, causing her to shake her head.

"We can share", El told him, offering the tub.

"What is it?"

"Triple chocolate."

"Yeah?", Will scooted over, from where he had been leaning on the nook of the couch. El offered him the spoon and he took it, scooping up as much as he could. When Mike laughed, Will looked at his friend. "This is the best one."

"It is", El nodded, both of them now looking at Mike.

The boy shrugged, a small smile playing on his face, as he eyed the two. 

El offered the tub to him, and Will gave him the spoon, both looking quite serious.

"Okay, okay", Mike laughed, before tasting the ice cream, finding their behavior hilarious. 

Then he hummed, brows furrowed, before taking another spoonful.

 

They settled after a while, concentrating fully on the movie, both of the boys leaning against her. 

Will and Mike were both too lazy to get their own spoons from the kitchen, so the three took turns and were slowly reaching the bottom of the tub.

 

_"Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware. Anger, fear and aggression. The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Luke... Luke...do not...do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor or suffer your father's fate you will. Luke, when gone am I... the last of the Jedi will you be. Luke... The force runs strong in your family... Pass on what you have learned, Luke...There is...another...Skywalker."_

And when Yoda closed his eyes for the last time, El choked on her tears. 

Both of the boys turned to her immediately. 

Then they shared a look, before Will took the now empty ice cream tub out of her hands and put it on the table before them.

"You've seen this before", Mike slowly pointed out, not really knowing what to say.

"I know", she sniffed, eyes still clued to the movie.

"Hey, don't cry", Will said softly, taking her hand in his.

El nodded, taking deep breaths. 

When she had first heard the line, the words had intrigued her. But now she understood them.

Mike put his arm around her shoulders, as El arranged the blankets to cover all the three of them. She leaned against his side, her hand clasped tight with Will's.

El wondered, while keeping her gaze on the movie, if she still got a chance. 

She didn't belong to the dark side.

 

Jonathan got home, then Joyce, and lastly Jim. 

The adults started on dinner, while the teen disappeared to his room. 

But the trio didn't move from the couch.

 

_'I'm sure Luke wasn't on that thing when it blew.'_

_'He wasn't. I feel him.'_

_'You love him. Don't you?'_

_'Yes.'_

_'Alright, I understand... Fine. When he comes back, I won't get in the way.'_

_'It's not like that at all. He's my brother.'_ Then, Leia kissed Han.

 

El, for some reason, felt a blush creeping on her face. Looking at the kissing scene, with Mike's arm around her... It made her heart beat wildly.

Mike on the other hand understood, that Luke, Leia, and Han were somewhat like the three of them. Except that El was the one, who could move things with her mind, not Will. 

And he was clearly Han, he told himself, blushing a little while brushing his fingers gently against El's arm. 

He sometimes got jealous watching her and Will, when they held hands like now or when they would whisper about something with just the two of them.

Mike knew, that the two had gone through some things that he, Lucas, or Dustin could never understand. And despite Will being the last one to meet El, they were already so close with each other. 

Well, the two lived together. And, to be fair, they both had saved each other's lives. 

Still, deep down, Mike knew that it was different. 

Different, than what he and El had.

 

When they were called for dinner, they took one side of the table. In the same way they had sat on the couch, El sat down between the boys.

"So, Mike", Joyce begun. "Your father is still in Florida?"

"Oh, yeah", the boy nodded. "He's coming home next week."

"Hasn't he been there for a month, already?", Jonathan wondered, while thinking back.

"Legal things always take long", Jim commented.

"It was nice of Ted to go over, to help his sister", Joyce smiled. "They must be quite close."

"I guess", Mike frowned slightly. He had no idea, as he hadn't actually seen his aunt in nine years himself. Only his father saw or truly spoke with her, really. They didn't even speak about her, at home.

Jim noticed the look on Mike's face, and turned to Will and El, wanting to change the subject. "Had a good day?"

"Yeah", Will nodded.

"What did you do?"

"Watched Star Wars", El answered.

"Oh yeah? Which one?"

El lifted her eyebrows at the question, and Will let out a laugh. 

"You watched all the three movies, today?", Joyce chuckled at El, who answered with a small smile.

"And ate the ice cream", Jonathan sighed. "The thought of it got me through the day..."

"You need ice cream for that?", Jim laughed. "My mother would've had to roll me to school, if I had been like you."

"You started smoking, when you were fourteen", Joyce reminded him, making him shrug.

"Everyone did, back then."

"I didn't eat it alone", El told Jonathan.

"Yeah, we helped her", Will grinned. 

"It was good", Mike nodded along, grinning at his plate while eating. Will chuckled.

Joyce patted her eldest son's back, laughing. "I'll get you your ice cream."

"I can go myself, after dinner", Jonathan brushed it off, eyeing El and the boys with amusement.

"Oh, honey", Joyce said suddenly, turning to El. "Isn't your test in next month, already?"

"Yes", the girl nodded, cutting the chicken on her plate.

"It'll be fine", Jonathan said gently. "There's four possible answers to each question.. You just need to pick the right one."

"Easy", El muttered softly.

Mike looked at her, slightly frowning at the sullen pout on her face. 

"You don't need to feel nervous about it", Will said softly, from her other side.

"If I want to go to school with you, then I do", El said slowly. "You're going to high school."

Her words silenced the whole table. 

Mike almost reached for her hand, before he remembered that they weren't alone and stopped, feeling shy.

It was unfair, to everyone, what she had gone through. But what was even more unfair, was the fact that her past kept haunting her. 

Due to her lack of education, she wouldn't necessarily get into the same year to school with her friends, who she was born on the same year with. 

And what El wanted was to be with her friends, like other kids did. She wanted to be like them. 

She wanted to be normal.

"There's a month left", Jim said, gaining her attention. "You just need to pass, you don't need to get every question right."

"He's right, sweetie", Joyce nodded, smiling encouragingly. "And you will pass."

 

Despite the warm words of her family and friends, El decided to study really hard for the next month, before the test. 

Jennifer had really helped her with writing and vocabulary. She had pointed out, after one of their study sessions, that El could practice writing by doing it regularly. For example writing down the important things she read about. 

So, El formed a plan.

After talking about it with Joyce and Jim, she informed Karen that she would come over after noon each day, by lunchtime. 

In the mornings she got up early and headed to the library to study, skimmed through a different book each day and wrote down the things she found important. Then she rode her bike to the Wheeler's, ate lunch with Karen and Holly, and played with the little girl - until the boys got home from school. 

Then, while they did their homework, she would read or do different kinds of exercises from her books. El listened what the boys did, too, grasping onto every bit of new information she simply could.

 

The boys were making their way back home from school one Monday, when they spotted El.

"Why is she going to the graveyard?", Lucas asked, as they saw her leave her bike outside the gates and lock it.

"I don't know", Will said, squinting his eyes a little.

"Is it wrong, if we follow her?", Dustin asked, glancing at his friends.

"No", Lucas said, but he didn't sound sure.

"We could wait for her", Mike suggested as they stopped to the gate, next to her bike. He saw her back as she slowly walked down the path, away from them.

"El!", Dustin shouted, making the girl turn around and look at them. 

Lucas punched his arm.

But El waved at them, before she turned back around and continued walking.

"We should go with her", Will said softly, leaving his bike next to hers and the three other boys following his lead.

They kept a small distance to her, the whole way. 

 

She turned right after a while, walking on the grass between the graves, before she stopped in front of one of the stones. 

The boys came to stand behind her, all of them sharing a glance after seeing whose grave it was.

El took a small flower from her jacket's pocket, twirling it a little before placing it on the stone and then rested her hand there for a while.

Will wanted to cry, as he glanced at El. He knew what she thought about. 

He had heard her screams and cries in the middle of the night, begging for forgiveness. 

Sometimes calling for Barb. 

He had gone to her on every one of those times, sometimes sitting on her bed until she fell back asleep, sometimes until Jonathan, mom, or Jim came. And she did the same for him, whenever he had a nightmare.

But El remained calm. After a while she pulled her hand back, turning her back to the boys before walking away from them. 

And they could do nothing, but follow. It was like a trance, a dream like state they had reached. 

The girl who they saw, it wasn't the El they knew. This girl was a sad shadow of her, without the curiosity and the playfulness in her eyes, to which they had grew accustomed to.

They could do nothing, but follow.

 

She soon crouched before another stone.

"Hi, Benny", they heard her whisper, as she pulled something else out of her pocket. 

A wooden ice cream spoon. 

El moved some ground from before the stone, placing the spoon there before covering it. 

"He died because of me", she told the boys, her voice a little louder than a whisper. "They shot him."

"It's not your fault", Will said, before he crouched next to her. "I bet he doesn't blame you."

El kept her eyes on the stone. "I come here every Monday."

It was such honesty, that it took a while for the four boys to comprehend her words.

"Could you, I don't know, wait for us, the next time?", Mike asked softly, from behind them. 

"Yeah", Dustin agreed.

"We could come with you, if you want", Lucas added in a low voice.

"Yes", El got out, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I'd like that."

"Good", Will nodded, looking back to the stone.

As they slowly walked back to their bikes, Mike reached for El's hand. 

She took it, before resting her head against his arm.

 

The test would be in a week. 

It was the only thing on El's mind, when she left the library at noon and opened the lock on her bike outside the building. She hopped on and cycled through the quite empty streets, away from the town centre. 

"Hey!", she heard someone yell but didn't react, thinking that the person wasn't most likely calling for her. 

"The weird girl!", the same voice called, this time making El slow down and look around.

Someone waved at her, sitting on a bench with a skateboard under her feet.

El studied her, before connecting her to the girl she had seen while visiting the boys at school in winter. She turned her head back, deciding to not to stop.

"Wait up!", the girl yelled, and El heard the sound that skateboards made against asphalt following her.

"What?", she asked, slowing down. She didn't want to get followed all the way to Mike's.

The girl soon got to her, grinning widely as she now skated at the same pace with El.

"I just wanted to know, why you're not in school?", the girl asked, curiosity oozing out of her. 

"I'm home schooled", El answered. 

"Man, you're lucky!", the girl sighed. "I'd do anything, if I didn't need to go to school."

"You're not in school now."

"Skipping class", the girl shrugged, eyeing her. "I'm Max, by the way."

"I'm El."

"Nice", Max said. "I think you're cool", she said then, "like how you handled Troy, and all..."

"You're not cool", El said, glancing at her with a blank face. "Because you are friends with him."

Max laughed, glancing at her. "He's not my friend, okay? I don't have friends here."

"Why?", El asked, looking at the road before her. 

She tried to estimate where she should stop, and to tell Max to turn around and go.

"I moved here last summer and everyone here is, I don't know, boring, I guess", Max shrugged. "But not you", she added, making El glance at her. "I got this feeling, that you're not like that... Boring, I mean."

"I'm not boring?", El said slowly, startled by the girl's words.

"Yeah", Max nodded, looking at the neighborhood. "Is this where you live?"

"No. A little further away."

"You heading home?"

"Yes", El lied. Max wasn't exactly a friend, so she didn't mind doing so.

"Are your parents home?"

"Yes." Karen was home, even though she wasn't exactly her parent.

"Oh...", Max looked at her, eyes calculating. "Could I, like, come over or something?"

"No."

"Why not?", the girl asked, lifting her eyebrows.

El glanced at the road, before stopping her bike. 

Max stopped next to her. She took off her baseball cap and ruffled her hair, before putting it back on. 

"I don't want you to", El said honestly, looking at the girl. "I'm going to eat lunch, then do my homework." 

Max chuckled, despite the slightly rude tone of the other girl. "You always that structured?", she asked, causing El to scrunch up her nose. "With your words, and days, all that?"

"Yes", El nodded.

"You're not from here? From USA?"

"No."

"Where are you from, then?"

"Sweden."

"Oh, okay...Where is that?"

"In Scandinavia", El answered from memory. "Next to Norway and Denmark."

"You lost me at Sweden already", Max laughed. "But cool. I haven't met anyone from there, before."

"I moved here in November. And now I need to study, to go to school."

"You need to take a test?"

"Yes, next week."

"Oh, well... Good luck with it, I guess", Max said, offering her a smile.

"Thank you", El smiled back a little, glancing at her shyly.

"Maybe we could like, hang out, when you get in?", Max suggested. "And after your test, when you have more time and stuff."

"Maybe", El nodded, making Max grin. "But what about Troy? His friends?"

"Fuck Troy", Max's grin turned into a frown. "He's an idiot, okay?"

"He is. But you spend time with him."

"I won't", Max shrugged. "Besides, I'm the one that passed on the knowledge about 'damp-pants', as your friends weren't brave enough to do so. The whole school's laughing at him."

"He hasn't done anything?", El asked, immediately getting worried.

"Nope", Max said, eyeing her curiously. "What's up with hanging with those geeks, anyway?"

"My friends?", El confirmed, and Max nodded. Geek was usually a negative word, El had learned from the boys. "They're not geeks."

Max shrugged.

"Will is my brother", El told the girl, with a hint of warning in her voice.

"Adoptive brother, right?", Max asked.

"Yes", El said slowly, "but a brother."

"I've got a step brother", the girl told her. "Our parents have been together for... like seven years. But he's still an ass."

El furrowed her brows. "He's not nice?"

"Yeah", Max nodded, moving the board back and forth under her foot. "But I'll let you go home now. Just make sure you get in to school, alright? I'll be bored to death without you."

"You won't", El said, before turning to face the road and starting to pedal. "But I will get in."

She heard Max laugh behind her, sounding both amused and happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. *horns blowing in the background* Max is here!


	23. If you fall, I will catch you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I hate bullies.

**If you fall, I will catch you**

 

El felt like she owed the world to Nancy, after the first official school test in her life.

She sat outside the principal's office in the high school side, having answered to a hundred questions - from which only about a twenty of them had confused her, somehow. But she would've been confused of the whole thing if Nancy hadn't made her the mock tests before, for practice. They had followed the same structure with the real one, so she hadn't been as nervous as she could have been.

The vice principal had asked her if she would like to wait for a while and know the answer immediately, or go home to wait for a call. 

So there she sat, bouncing her leg restlessly up and down, while eyeing the Hawkins' High School from the inside. 

She had nervous butterflies in her stomach.

When the door to the office opened, El bolted up from her chair. 

"Miss Hopper?", the vice principal called, keeping the door open for her.

She went in, brows slightly furrowed. 

"Sit down, please", the man told her with an unreadable face.

And El sat down, looking at the man cautiously. "Yes?"

"Good or bad news first?", he asked, having sat down too and eyeing her test.

"Bad?", she suggested. Her hand found the bracelet, fingers brushing over the heart pendant.

"Very well", the vice principal nodded, before turning his gaze on her. "You can't go to English classes, not right away. You need more tutoring. But, if you manage to get that during the summer and take a small test in fall to show us you've improved, I'm sure the English teacher will take you in."

"But", El said slowly, her eyes wide. "I got in?"

"Yes", the man said, before he offered her a small smile. "You passed the test. Welcome to Hawkins' High, starting from fall."

"Thank you...", was all that she got out, as she stared at the man in wonder.

"No problem", he brushed her off, tucking the papers into a folder. "I will inform your parents and then we can enroll you into the school. Still, it's a mysterious case, how all of your school records disappeared..."

"Yes", El nodded shyly.

"But what can you do, when you move from another country, huh?", the vice principal offered her another smile, before ushering her home.

 

Will felt like a nervous wreck, while walking out of the school building with his friends. They had stayed a little later, all of them finishing their history assignments in the library. 

The hallways were empty, and so was the yard. 

Today they would find out if El would get into school or not. Will had taken a lot of tests during his short life, but somehow the fact that it was her, this time, and it was about something that big... 

He glanced at his friends, and their expressions must've mirrored his. 

He wasn't the only worried one.

He couldn't wait to get home.

 

After turning around the corner, to their bikes, the boys stopped. 

El stood there, her back towards them and her bike propped up next to theirs. 

"El?", Dustin asked.

She turned around, looking at them all as a small smile formed on her face.

"How did it go?", Mike asked immediately, answering to her smile with his nervous one. 

"You took the test, right?", Lucas confirmed, and she nodded.

"I took the test", she told them slowly, glancing at each of them. "I got in."

"No--! You did it!", Dustin exclaimed, rushing over to hug her.

"Yes, I got in", she smiled, letting out a small laugh.

"No way", Will breathed out.

Mike then wrapped his arms around her, smiling so widely that it almost felt forced. He couldn't help it. "I can't believe it, El", he said, chuckling. "That's...that's amazing!" 

El hugged him tightly back, nuzzling against his neck briefly, before releasing him with a bright smile. Her eyes twinkled with excitement as she glanced up at him, and Mike felt out of breath just by looking at her. 

Lucas went in for a hug as well. "Congrats, El", he said, while smiling widely.

"Thank you."

After pulling away from the hug, El turned to look at Will. 

He stared at her, grinning and shaking his head in a slow motion. 

"No way", Will repeated, making everyone laugh. "You'll go to school, with us, after summer", he got out, before covering his face with his hands. "I'm so happy..."

"I know", he heard El say, and he lowered his hands to see her. "I'm happy, too."

He enveloped her into a hug, both of them resting their heads on other's shoulder. Feeling high from the relief, they simultaneously closed their eyes. 

Will took a deep breath, as El let out the air she felt like she had been holding in.

"Well, won't you look at that?", a voice came from behind them, breaking their peace. "What do we have here?"

Will gently pulled away from El, turning around in his place.

"Fuck off, Troy", Dustin said, looking at the boy and the guys behind the bully, his own eyebrows furrowed.

"Fuck off, Toothless", Troy mimicked, exaggerating the other boy's lisps, before turning to Will. "But did Fairy get a girlfriend?", he asked, his gang laughing behind him. 

"Or is she even a girl, for real?" James asked, chuckling. 

"A fairy, and a freaky boy, dressed as a girl", Troy smirked. "You two make quite the pair."

Mike clenched his fists. "Shut up, Troy! Just--", he managed to say, before he got cut out. 

"I'm not talking to you, Frog face", Troy told him, before his gaze moved back to Will and El. "Freak and Fairy here are a lot more interesting, you know?"

"He's just pissed, that Fairy stole his _girl_ ", James said. He looked at Mike with a smirk, who in turn took a step closer to El and Will.

"Do you get money, from showing her around?", one of Troy's friends asked.

"I think people pay to see them all", another said, laughter erupting among their gang. 

"Who wouldn't", Troy drawled, smirking. "Look at this freak show! Just like in the good, old days..."

El glanced at her friends, who now stood around the two of them.

The feelings they had were plastered on their faces. Anger, fear... But the third one. 

It made her blood boil.

Acceptance. 

El took a step from behind Will's back, coming to his side, but he stretched his arm to block any further movement. She took a hold of his arm, ready to push it out of her way, but his thoughts filled her head before she had the time to do so.

 _Don't get into a fight, please_ , Will begged. _You just got into the school, they could still cancel it._

"Oh, is your boyfriend stopping you, Freak?", Troy asked, challenging. 

"He's stopping me", El said slowly, "so you won't need to go to the hospital. Again." 

"But you can't do anything, can you?", Troy laughed, coming closer to the pair. "Now that we're here, where anyone could see."

Will moved El behind his back, causing Troy to smirk and his friends to holler with laughter.

"Look at you", Troy said sweetly, eyeing him. "Fairy's all grown up! Protecting his freaky gay pal, and all that shit."

"Just leave", Will told the boy, even though his voice faltered.

"Or what?", Troy smirked at him. "You'll play dead? It might have worked once, on everyone, but I'm not stupid."

"Not stupid", El growled, startling her friends. "Idiot."

"What did you say?", Troy hissed at her, coming closer. "Say it again, I dare you!"

Will moved back a little, keeping El behind him. He swallowed, staring at the boy before them.

Their friends had froze to their places, having no idea what to do or how to help.

"Fuck you, Troy", El said slowly, every word carefully pronounced and her voice filled with hatred.

Troy had his gaze locked with El's and she stared right back, waiting for his next move.

"Get them", he spat suddenly, and his friends rushed over to take hold of Dustin, Lucas, and Mike. 

Mike wriggled against James' hold, with all that he got, but it was no use. He wasn't strong enough, compared to the other boy. Dustin stomped the foot of the guy who held him back, cursing and trying to hit him. And Lucas... He tried everything, while watching the situation before them, panic growing inside of him. 

El and Will looked so small, compared to the bully who was at least a head taller than his victims.

"He can't protect you", Troy told El, coming closer to her and Will before his face screwed up in anger. "You're the one going to the hospital, this time", he spat, before lifting his clenched fist up.

"El!", Mike shouted, his voice breaking. 

"Stop it--!"

"Don't--!"

But El closed her eyes, after seeing the raised fist, her heart pumping so hard that she could've passed out. Hearing the shouts of her friends, she took a breath, waiting, but the pain never came. 

Troy had stopped in the middle of his movement, his raised fist inches from her face.

She glanced up to him, just as the shock on his face changed into anger.

"What the fuck is this? What the _fuck_ are you doing, you _freak_?"

Will let out a shaky breath, eyes wide and shocked, as he felt the humming in his head. 

And El felt his powers, thick in the air around them. 

Troy tried to do it again, but stopped before El's face this time, too. And he did it again, and again, faster and angrier by each hit, but without success.

"Fuck this", he spat then, shoving Will's chest hard and making the two to stumble back, before retreating.

El barely caught Will. She circled her arms around him, keeping him upright. But her wary eyes remained on the bully.

"Let's go!", Troy ushered his gang, who let go of the three boys they'd held, shoving them to the ground. 

Once they had left, El immediately turned Will around. She took his face in her hands, and wiped off the blood from under his nose with a thumb. 

Their friends watched in shock, before scrambling up from the ground and coming to them.

Will chuckled, his eyes droopy. "That was cool", he mumbled, taking a hold of El's shoulder.

El simply stared at him, her eyes wide.

"Did he punch you?", Lucas asked, eyeing Will's face from next to El.

"No", the boy got out, at the same time that he closed his eyes for a brief moment. 

"Your nose is bleeding!"

"Didn't you use your powers?", Mike asked El, as he peered for her face, checking. 

"Yeah, we saw how you stopped Troy", Dustin agreed. "He didn't touch either of you, I saw that."

Will almost fell to the ground, as his knees suddenly buckled, but Lucas and El caught him.

"Will?", Lucas asked, his voice panicked. "What's wrong with you?" He was now supporting his friend, with an arm wrapped around him. "Did he hit you!?"

"He's tired", El said, wiping off the rest of the blood with a tissue. "We need to go home."

"I'm fine", Will muttered. He opened his eyes before trying to stand on his own.

"Why is he tired?", Mike asked, trying to get El's attention. "El, why's he like that?"

She looked at him, eyes silently pleading him. "At home", she insisted, before turning back to her brother. "Can you ride your bike?"

Will nodded, but almost stumbled over afterwards.

"No", she shook her head, while helping Will to stand. "I'll ride you."

"I can do it", Mike suggested.

"I'll ride him!", El said strongly, startling the boys.

She got on her bike, ushering Will behind her. She made sure he held on tightly before leaving the school yard, leaving the three other boys to follow in their own speed. 

 

Whole way home she kept one hand clenched around Will's, who rested his head against her shoulder.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid..._

"I know", Will mumbled then, loud enough for her to hear. "But I didn't do it... On purpose."

"Me...I'm stupid", El choked, clasping on his hand even tighter. "They can't see you do that, they can't..."

"Who?", he got out.

"The bad men. I'm stupid--."

"Stop it", he told her softly. "It's okay..."

"They can't know about you", she breathed out. "They can't know, Will."

 

After reaching their house, El helped him upstairs and to his bedroom.

"Lay down", she told him, as the rest of the boys ran into the room, too.

"I can sit", Will insisted, but she pushed him gently down with her powers.

"What is going on?", Lucas asked, starting to get frustrated.

"If something's wrong, you can tell us", Mike reminded, his eyes moving between the two of them.

"Just trust us", Dustin said. His gaze moved between El and Will, not sure where or who he was supposed to be looking at. "There's nothing you can't tell."

The door banged shut, behind the three boys, startling them. 

Will sat back up, leaning against his pillows, as El's eyes weren't on him anymore.

"No one else can hear", El said slowly, her voice thin. 

The three boys shuffled closer, Dustin dragging a chair from Will's desk to the bedside, as Mike and Lucas both sat on the foot of the bed. 

El carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, next to her brother. She glanced at Will, who nodded. 

"It was me", Will sighed, turning to look at his friends.

Mike stared at him, before his gaze turned to El.

"Huh?", Dustin asked.

"Who stopped Troy."

Will's words were followed by a long silence. 

El could hear the ticking of the clock. It made her nervous. She stared at her shaking hands.

"You're saying, that you stopped Troy, mid-air", Lucas stared at Will, briefly glancing at El, before he let out a nervous chuckle. "You've got be kidding me..."

"It wasn't El?", Dustin questioned, his eyes going between Will and El. "She didn't stop him?"

"Well, she didn't exactly _stop_ him", Mike said slowly, still staring at El. "He just couldn't...hit them." He glanced at Will, who looked tired and pale, before turning his gaze back to her.

But El had closed her eyes, her whole face looking like she was in pain. Her hands were shaking on her lap, while she was breathing so heavily that he could easily see the movement of her chest. 

"I didn't know, that I could do that", Will said slowly, frowning at the bed spread and thinking over his words before letting them out. "It just happened. I wanted to protect her, and me, and then he... he just couldn't touch us."

Turning her back to Will, El changed her position. She needed more room, more air...

She dropped her face to her hands, covering her eyes, before taking a deep breath.

"How?", Mike wondered, looking at Will. "I don't get it."

"I was born with it", El whispered. "The others... They were born with it."

"So was Will", Lucas nodded, slowly accepting the fact. He stared at Will, worried because of the lack of color on his face.

"That's why the demogorgon didn't hurt you", Dustin whispered, getting everyones attention at once. "Well, hurt more...You could keep it away."

Will looked confused. "I don't know", he muttered, turning his gaze away and it stopping on El. 

"Maybe you... Maybe you used your powers, without knowing about them?", Dustin suggested.

"Barb died", Lucas said, his voice thin. "You could've died, too."

El tried to breath in and out, evenly. She closed her eyes, wishing the tightness from her chest and throat to leave. Everything felt wrong, horribly wrong, and she didn't like the feeling. 

_"Honey, it's okay, just breath... One slow take in, then one out..."_

Jim's words came back to her, and she took a deep breath.

"But what did you do?", Mike asked in a hushed voice. "When Troy tried to hit you." 

He kept his eyes on El, who had bend over and dropped her face to her hands. He itched to go to her, to comfort her, but at the same time he felt ashamed. Guilty. 

Good for nothing.

"I-I...", Will shook his head, trying to find the words. "I tried to protect her", he muttered.

"He tried to hit her", Dustin said, the words sticking to his throat. "He, like seriously, tried to hit her."

Mike felt rage boil inside of him, but the worry he had towards the girl was stronger than that. He should've done something, anything... 

"El", Will said softly. "We need to tell Jim."

"No", she got out, before sniffing. Her hands, which covered her face, were shaking. "N-not dad."

"We need to tell him", he insisted, scooting on his bed to get closer to her. "Troy can't continue this, and... and we can't continue this, El", he whispered. "It's not okay."

"No", El repeated, and they heard her let out a cry.

Will went to sit next to her, pulling her into a hug. 

Mike, Dustin and Lucas weren't sure what to do, or what was wrong with her. 

But Dustin moved to the bed, too, it being large enough to fit all of them while sitting. He put his hand on her back and Lucas did the same, the both of them offering their comfort to her.

Mike took one of her hands in his, and was immediately whisked to a memory.

 

_She looked around the meadow, as the sunlight warmed her skin._

_Everything was green._

_Pretty._

_Then her mouth felt full._

_She almost choked, before she spat blood out, coughing at the feeling in her throat._

_The grass under her feet... It wasn't pretty and green anymore. Her shoes, too, they were ruined._

_She trembled at the sight, tilting her blood splattered hands._

_When she lifted her gaze, she noticed him._

_He looked at her calmly, before his face begun to blur and change._

_Then it wasn't him anymore, but another faceless monster._

_She tried to whisk it away with her powers, but it kept getting closer to her._

_Then it stopped._

_The sunlight was gone, and so was the warmth._

_She was back in the upside down, lying on the cold ground._

_Immediately, she turned to her side and threw up all the little she had, gasping for air._

_The coughs that followed, they hurt._

_Her stomach and lungs... they felt beaten up, stomped upon. For every raspy breath she took in, her whole body trembled under the pain._

_He hit her again._

_And again._

_Hit and kicked, and then tried to drag her with him, while playing different imagines in her head._

_She screamed in pain when her back hit a sharp rock, while being dragged along the ground._

 

The boys stared at her with wide, teary eyes, after she had leaped away from them. 

El leaned against the wall on the other side of the room, her eyes wide. 

She reminded them of a small, wild animal - scared and trying to hide herself into a corner. Trying to get away from the predatory eyes, like on the documents they had seen on television. 

And now, she was trying to get away from them.

"He didn't need to do that", Will got out. His eyes burned. "We won't let Troy or anyone touch you like that, we promise you", he cried, staring at her.

"Why?", Lucas asked, breathing hard. "W-why did he do that?"

El slowly slid down, along the wall, shaking her head. 

"Return", she whispered.

"He hurt you", Mike said, choking on his tears. He tried to move, to go to her, but she stopped him. 

"No", she shook her head at him.

"El", he breathed out. "It's me. A-and I won't hurt you, ever, I promise."

"He...dead", she said, taking a deep breath in the between of the words. " _Dead_ ", she repeated with a whisper, before her eyes screwed shut. "Killed him."

"I trust you", Mike told her, trying to move but still failing. "I trust you, El..."

"No", El sobbed. She opened her eyes and looked at him with so much pain, that he clenched his fists in agony.

"Y-you tried to save yourself", Mike told her, eyes pleading for her to trust him, too. "All those times you did it because you had to, El... You had to."

"He was crazy", Will added in a small voice. "No one sane would do that", he wiped his face, breathing raggedly. 

They watched as El dropped her head down on her knees, shoulders slumped and her whole body shaking with tears.

"I'm the monster", she sobbed.

Lucas couldn't stop the tears anymore, but he tried to wipe them away. "You're not, El", he got out.

Dustin let out a choked sound and Lucas clasped his shoulder, before closing his eyes and covering his own mouth with a hand.

"You're not, El... believe me, you're not", Will cried while getting up, and Mike realized that he could move now too. 

But he didn't. He felt frozen to his place, as he stared at her.

Will slumped to the floor before El, trying to get her to look at him. 

"Please", he sobbed, taking her hand but she pulled it away. "We love you", he told her. 

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin looked at the two, waiting. 

Will took her hand again and again, but she pulled it away every time, crying hard. 

"You're my sister, m-my family", he cried and El lifted her head up to look at him, tears flowing down her cheeks. 

Then Will tried again, clasping her hand, and this time she didn't pull away.

"They...", he whispered, before taking a deep breath, "they will never know."

Mike watched from his place at the way that El looked at Will for a long time, before she nodded. 

Will immediately pulled her up and guided her back to the bed. She sat back to where she had been before, between him and Mike, Lucas and Dustin behind her back. 

El let out a shaky breath and screwed her eyes shut, tears flowing down her cheeks. 

That was what it took, to get Mike out of his guilty thoughts. 

He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned against him, while all the boys showed their support towards her.

Mike wished that he was faster, stronger, and braver. 

He wished that he could help her.

 

After a long time, during which all of them had calmed down, Dustin sighed. "I still can't believe you got into school, El. It's amazing."

He wanted to calm, cheer and distract everyone.

And apparently it worked as El let out a laugh, making all the boys turn to look at her.

"Why are you laughing?", Mike asked softly, looking down at the girl who still leaned against him.

"The vice principal... He asked me, good or bad news first", she told them, fiddling with Will's hand which she held onto. "I said bad."

"What were they?", Lucas asked her.

"That I need practice, with English. I need to take a test for it, after summer", she said. "I thought I failed."

Mike hugged her a little tighter, absently, while all the boys smiled at her. "I'll help you", he promised, "we have all the summer."

El glanced up at him, locking their eyes, before offering him a small smile. 

"I just realized, that we're finally getting out of middle school", Lucas gasped suddenly, shaking the boys' shoulders with excitement. "I think I'm going to try out, for the football team", he declared then, gaining grins from his friends.

"You need to work out", Will told him.

"I know, I know", Lucas chuckled, nudging the boy's shoulder gently. "But I'm going to do it!"

"Yeah", Dustin nodded. "I'm going for the drama club, I think. It sounds cool."

"Do I need to go to a club?", El asked.

"No", Mike told her. "They're after school stuff."

"Are you going?", she asked, tilting her head to lean it against his neck.

"I don't know", he muttered, suddenly feeling a little tense. Shyly, he kept stroking her arm with the hand that rested around her. "AV or science, I guess."

"Well, El can't join the AV club", Lucas pointed out, erupting chuckles from everyone.

"You're right..." She had understood the damage she had done, over a year after causing it, feeling still quite bad about it.

"I think", Will said, smiling a little, "that I'll just take the extra arts classes, and that's it." He watched at the way, that El played with his hand, at the moment bending his fingers one at a time. "I think those would be the most useful ones, for me."

"What's it like?", El asked softly. Then she leaned back, and Mike removed the arm from around her. She laid down onto the bed, middle of the boys, looking up at them all with her round eyes. "Going to school?"

"It's okay", Dustin told her, "you learn these new things--."

"And sometimes they're interesting", Lucas interrupted, "sometimes they're not."

"You'll be around a lot of people, of our age", Dustin continued. "Some of them are assholes, like Troy and his friends."

"And Max", Lucas continued, making Dusting shrug and El turn her eyes on him.

"I don't know, man", Dustin said. "She's not in the same category, not with those idiots."

"She's just annoying", Will nodded. "But she hasn't done anything in a while now."

"I bet she has something, like a master plan", Lucas said, "something big, and we won't know what it is before it happens."

"Max said, that she won't hang out with Troy anymore", El got out, shyly looking up at Lucas.

All the boys turned to her, their eyes wide. 

"When did you talk with her?", Mike asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"A week ago", she mumbled, suddenly feeling cornered. "She came to me, on the street."

"What did she say?", Lucas asked, looking at her.

"I don't know", El cast her eyes away. "But...she wants to be my friend, I guess."

"Your friend?", Dustin asked.

"She said, that she's lonely", she mumbled.

"Are you going to be?", Lucas asked slowly. "Her friend?"

"I think, that you could give her a chance", Will told El, who still hadn't let go of his hand. He kept pushing thoughts trough the bond, calming her down and reassuring her.

El nodded a little.

 

They spend the rest of the afternoon simply lazing around, talking about Will's powers.

Mike laid down on his stomach, sideways on Will's bed, with El next to him. He had his head propped up on his hands, while she laid with her face towards him. She was, at the moment, fiddling with the sleeve of his t-shirt, her fingers brushing his arm every once in a while. 

He had no idea, how such a small thing could make him so happy.

"You can't just hit him, Dustin, to see if he can stop you!", Lucas exclaimed, from where he leaned against the bed on the floor, glaring at his friend sitting in an armchair.

Will kept laughing, laying on the floor on his back.

"Why?", Dustin asked. "He needs to learn how to use them, like El has!"

El sat up then, eyeing the boy on the floor. Then she threw the nearest book at Will, soon watching how it bounced to the other side of the room.

Will turned to his stomach, meeting her eyes with his shocked ones.

"Ohh!", Dustin shouted, while Lucas clapped his hands.

"W-why would you do that?", Will asked El, his eyes wide. "You could've hurt me", he said, before glancing at the book. "And with that!", he exclaimed, pointing at the brick of a book on the floor.

"It didn't hit you", Mike defended the girl, despite looking shocked, too.

"I knew you could do it", she answered. 

"You're horrible", Will laughed, dropping his head to the floor.

"I'm not", El frowned.

"Yeah, come on Will, she's the best!", Lucas said, going to tickle him. "Dustin come on, let's show him!"

"No! Stop it", Will cried, trying to get free from their hold. Mike laughed and scrambled up from the bed, to join them. They made Will wriggle, kick, and almost cry with laughter. "STOP!"

"Apologize to her!", Dustin laughed.

"I'm sorry, El!" Will laughed, but the boys didn't stop. "I'm sorry, but you--, you got to help me, _please_!", he got out, despite laughing so hard that he couldn't keep his eyes open. "P-p-please, El!"

El smiled, before pushing the boys away from her brother with her powers. They fell gently to the floor, laughing due the surprise. 

Will crawled away, before he got up and ran, getting on his bed and behind El. He put his hands on her shoulders for support, trying to catch his breath.

"No more!", he pleaded their amused friends, who were coming to them teasingly slow, wriggling their fingers.

"I know you didn't mean it", El told him, glancing over her shoulder at the boy.

Will enveloped her in a hug, thanking her endlessly.

 

Before the boys had to leave, they agreed to have the next campaign on the weekend. The ones before had been smaller, to let El practice a few times, so they hadn't taken that much time.

"You could play the next one here", Joyce suggested from her place on the couch, where she had been reading. She had listened to their conversation, as the boys had gotten ready to leave. "If it takes long, you can all just spend the night and continue it in the morning."

El got immediately uncomfortable, as the boys begun to plan. She knew, that she wouldn't be allowed to sleep in the same room with them, no matter how far away she would be from Mike. 

The problem was that she couldn't be away from him, and she knew it herself, too.

"Is it okay, if we start to play on Friday?", Will asked Joyce.

"Of course, honey. Just tell me what you want to eat", she said, making the boys cheer.

"Thanks, Mrs Byers!", Lucas said before leaving, gaining a smile from the woman.

"It's nothing, Lucas", she smiled warmly.

Will closed the door behind their friends.

 

El rode him to school on the next day, the pair getting a few long looks from some kids outside the building. 

But when Max saw them the girl grinned and walked backwards to the school, showing them the peace-sign. 

Will turned to look at El, chuckling, his eyebrows raised from surprise. El smiled at him, before wishing all the boys a good day at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. But I love my readers xx


	24. She drives me crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Oh my, OVER 4,000 HITS? What the......
> 
> So, I have a gift for you: a D&D chapter (quite long, too), spiced with a sleepover! 
> 
> Thank you loves, preciousbean

**She drives me crazy**

 

When Dustin, Lucas, and Will each had an essay to write, and Mike came home alone after school, he mentally praised himself for staying up late on the night before. 

He had written the paper, possibly letting out a few curse words that would even make a biker proud, not wanting to leave it for later. It was their last big assignment, and he had wanted it done.

And now, he got to spend the whole afternoon together with El. 

 

After having a snack, they relaxed in the blanket fort in the basement. 

It was something they did, every time it was just the two of them, and he loved it. El loved it.

She was showing him a book, which she had found from the library, about different countries and cultures. It was something that intrigued her, a lot, after growing up in a secluded environment. 

To be honest, she had had no idea what could've been outside of the building, or if there were anything at all. And now, that she knew just how big the world was, she couldn't get enough of it.

"I like rainforests", Mike said, as they were looking at pictures of Africa. "But deserts, too. That's why Africa is so cool, you know? It has both of them."

"It's big", El nodded, opening another book, a huge one, to look at the world map. She begun to compare the continent with theirs.

They laid on their stomachs, heads towards the room, with the books before them.

"El?", Mike asked, eyeing her with a small grin.

"Yes?"

"Do you know, where Sweden is?", he asked with a chuckle. It was something he had thought about a few times already, but had never gotten around to ask her.

El immediately pointed at the map before them. "Here", she told him.

Mike leaned closer to the book, smiling. "Yeah. Hm...what about Japan?"

And she moved her finger, to the other side of the map, giving him a pointed look.

"Australia?"

Once again, she knew right away.

"You're really good at this", he said in awe, glancing at her.

El shrugged, although smiling due to the compliment.

"I'll give you a harder one", Mike grinned, thinking about it for a while. "Ireland?"

She immediately pointed at the island. "That's not hard."

"Ohh, okay", he laughed, eyeing her with proud amusement. "Romania, then."

El glanced at him, before moving her finger to the right spot.

"How do you know these?", he asked in awe.

Mike watched her fiddle with the nook of the page, straightening the bend corner someone had made. It looked like a nervous gesture, making him think that he had said something wrong. 

"El?", he said, grasping her other hand in his.

"It's nothing", she told him, her eyes on the map before them. "When I got back, I couldn't sleep... sometimes", she confessed. "I looked at pictures, then at maps."

"Oh." There wasn't much for him to say.

"I like them", El said, her voice soft. "Maps."

Mike smiled at her, dropping his head down to a pillow, while not being able to tear his gaze from her. And not being able to let go of her hand, either.

"The world", she said, glancing down at him. "It's big."

"Yeah."

"We are so small", she whispered, before turning to look at the map again.

Mike wasn't sure what she meant with her words. And before he could ask, she closed both books and pushed them away a bit. Then she laid her head down, too, locking her eyes with his.

 

He had fell asleep so fast, that he hadn't even had the time to realize being tired.

And to say it was the best nap in his whole life, would've been an understatement. 

Waking up with her, just inches from him, was the best feeling in the whole world. 

Mike barely resisted the urge to touch her sleeping face. He settled for the feeling of her hand, which was still clasped tight with his. And to be honest, that was enough for him, too.

 

On Friday, El decided to ride her bike to the school, to wait for the boys to get out. As the kids started flowing out of the building, after the bell rang, she looked at the masses with wide eyes.

"You okay?", someone asked from beside her, making El turn to look at Max.

"Yes", she said, turning to eye the people again.

"Waiting for your friends, right?", the girl asked, making her nod. "Oh, by the way, did you pass the test?"

"I did", El offered her a small smile. 

"Wow", Max laughed. "Cool!"

They were silent for a while, before Max continued. "So...did you think about it? If you could maybe hang out, sometime?"

And El had thought about it. A few times actually.

"Next week?", she suggested, glancing at the girl. 

"Yeah, sure", Max grinned, and El found herself genuinely answering to the gesture.

"El!", Lucas shouted, and both of the girls turned to the boys who came over to them.

"I didn't know you were coming", Mike said to El, after stopping before her. He briefly glanced at Will, who shrugged.

"I just decided", El smiled. "Holly almost came with me", she told him, making Mike and the boys chuckle.

"Who's Holly?", Max asked, looking at El.

"My little sister", Mike answered, eyeing the girl cautiously.

"Why would she want to come with you?", Max continued, still asking the girl beside her.

"Holly has a major crush on her", Dustin chuckled while making everyone, except for Mike and El, laugh.

"She does not", El begun.

"Yeah, she just likes her", Mike nodded, "what's wrong with that?"

"You need to face the reality, guys", Dustin laughed. "Holly has a crush on El, that's it."

"How old is she?", Max asked.

"Four", Mike and El answered at the same time.

"Aww, you've got a little girlfriend, don't you?", Max teased, nudging El's shoulder a little. "Just save room for me, okay?", she said, before glancing at her watch. 

"I need to get going now, but...", she took out a pen, searching for some paper from her backpack. Then she scribbled something on it and handed it to El. "Call me, about next week", she said, offering her a smile.

"Okay", El got out, smiling a little, too.

"Bye!", Max said cheerily, before rushing away with her skateboard.

"I think", Lucas begun slowly, after Max was further away, "that she's the one, who has a crush on you."

"What?", Mike asked, his voice high. 

"She needs a friend", El told Lucas. 

"Right!", Mike exclaimed, as the rest of the boys sniggered.

"You need to watch out", Dustin told Mike teasingly, as they walked to their bikes. "Otherwise someone will come, and snatch her away."

Mike scrunched his nose, looking at El's back as the girl walked between Will and Lucas.

He knew that Dustin had been joking, but still... He hoped that it wouldn't happen. 

 

After they had stopped by each boys house on their way, as they grabbed everything they'd need, including the game from Mike's basement, they pedaled together over to Will and El's house.

The weather had turned warm already, so warm in fact that they had taken their jackets off, as the sun and riding their bikes would've made them sweat otherwise.

Lucas showed off to El, lifting his legs to the sides, while steering his bike forward.

And Mike watched her copy the movement slowly, but steadily, while a smirk formed on his face.

Their laughter filled the streets.

 

They set up the game onto the table in the basement, and Mike begun telling the story he had came up with to his friends.

"--And as you wander through the trade roads, from a city to another, you meet the son of the King's brother", he said, building the atmosphere. "He's wearing a heavy armor, and begs you to come with him. He says that he offers you a meal, if you just listen to what he has to say..."

Lucas leaned to his hand, while Dustin leaned back in his chair. Will had laced his fingers together, on the table, and El stared at Mike. It was hard to do anything else, in her opinion.

"He waits, until the people around your table have drawn away from you, before he speaks", he told his friends, slowly eyeing them. "It's about the prince, his cousin. He says, that someone has been poisoning his mind, making him do things he wouldn't in his right mind do. The king won't believe him, so he needs your help..." 

 

It didn't take long for them all to fall into the story.

El had already figured the game so well, that the boys didn't even need to make sure that she kept up, because she did. 

She knew her, and the boys' characters by heart.

 

After playing for a couple of hours, they begun to understand what Mike had meant with a "complicated story", as he had earlier described it to them.

"...while the sorcerer has left the castle. But the townsmen are still in danger", Mike finished the twist in the plot, waiting for his friends to decide, what they would do.

Lucas eyed his party. "We need to kill the sorcerer."

Dustin shook his head. "We need to get there, to the prince, so El can remove what ever it is, that's responsible of all of this."

"The sorcerer is far", El agreed softly. "We need to save the prince."

"But his chambers are guarded, remember?", Lucas huffed, leaning his head back and rubbing his eyes.

"We only need to get her there, to the prince", Will said. "We can stay and fight."

"Oh my fucking..."

 

"After you take the left turn from the crossroad, you fasten your pace. It feels like someone is following you", Mike whispered. "When you reach the bridge, you see that it has been burned down..."

"Raiders", Dustin muttered. El glanced at him, the two sharing a look.

"You hear rustles from the bushes, nearing you... Before you can get away, they've surrounded you! There's twenty raiders, weapons ready and pointing at you, choose your action!"

 

After a few hours, they paused the game to eat dinner - only to come back down half an hour later, ready to continue.

It was so intriguing. 

El listened to Mike's voice, and his enthusiasm made her even more excited.

 

"Can we save them?", El asked, eyeing her friends in worry.

"We can...", Dustin said slowly, looking at her. "But it's a lot."

"But", she begun, her eyebrows knit together, "will they die?"

"Well, yeah", Lucas nodded, frowning.

"But we could die, too", Will reminded her, "while saving them."

"We have to try", El pressed, and it didn't take long for the rest of the party to agree with her.

Mike smiled behind his binder.

 

"...and with a last swish, just before the spell from the sword ends, the dragon collapses. It let's out a roar, shaking the ground beneath you, before it breaths out it's last flame..."

"YES!", Dustin stood up, lifting his hands up above him in cheer, while Mike finished his sentence.

El beamed, after just having successfully healed Lucas from a bad burn. They were all still alive.

 

Joyce came down later in the evening, and watched them for a while. 

"We took three mattresses into your room, Will", she told the boy, when a good spot came for her to speak, ruffling his hair. "The sheets are ready."

"Okay", Will nodded absently, while wondering what he'd do next. "El can sleep with me."

But not everyone were as consentrated in the game, as he was.

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin turned to look at him, their eyes wide.

"Not this time, honey", Joyce shook her head, looking at El. "She'll sleep in her own room, tonight."

"Why?", Will asked, turning to look up at his mother. "It's not a true sleepover, if she's not there with us."

"It's okay", El said quickly.

"No", Will said softly, looking at Joyce. "Please, mom."

"No", Joyce smiled a little, apologizing. "We had a talk about it, with your parents", she continued then, glancing at the boys around the table, who looked disappointed. "They all agreed on it... Sorry." She slowly left the room, going upstairs. "Get to bed before midnight, alright?"

The boys turned to stare at Will.

"She could sleep with you?", Dustin asked, mimicking his words.

"'Not this time?'", Lucas quoted, looking at him with raised eyebrows.

Mike didn't know what to say. He simply stared at Will, brows furrowed, before turning to look at El. 

She was already looking at him, her brown eyes wide.

"Yeah...", Will begun, squirming under the hard stare of his friends.

"When?", Dustin asked, waving his hands in the air, waiting for someone to explain the situation.

"On Christmas", El answered, glancing at all of the boys.

"I used to do that with Jonathan, before", Will added fast.

"That's why you were touching her pajamas!", Dustin exclaimed. "I knew it!"

Will's cheeks turned pink, while El simply looked confused. 

And neither Mike or Lucas looked happy.

"It wasn't like that", El told him. "Don't say it like that."

"Yeah, it's gross", Will agreed. "She's my sister, you make it sound like I...ugh", he groaned, before covering his face. "Just stop..."

"So...while we spoke on the supercom...", Lucas begun, looking between Will and El.

"You were cuddled together, in the same bed", Mike muttered, frowning at the table behind his binder. 

"Yeah", Lucas nodded.

"It's not like that!", Will told him, staring at him over the table. "We spoke with you, then about Christmas, and Christmas lights...", he trailed off. "It's not like that. Just stop it, already."

And they did, continuing the game for a few more hours in tensed up atmosphere.

 

El put on pajama shorts and a t-shirt after shower. She briefly poked her head to Will's room, on her way back to hers, to say goodnight to the boys. They had all turned to stare at her, before slowly, one by one, they answered to her. 

She settled on her bed, deciding to continue reading _The Hobbit_ , as she wasn't tired enough to fall asleep yet. The book was something that Will had suggested to her, and she had liked it so far. The language was complicated, compared to what she had read before, but apparently she would have to get used to it.

She could hear the boys' chatter through the wall, but as she concentrated on reading she could tune it down a little.

 

After the sounds from the boys had ceased and she begun to feel tired, El put the book away. She switched off the rest of the lights with her mind, before closing her eyes.

Mike. He was the first thing she thought about, right away, as she knew the boy was in the room next to hers. She couldn't sometimes understand it, the pull she felt towards him. Maybe it was the crush thing. Or the fact, that she liked him. 

Well, she liked eggos and she had to have them everyday. Without the exception of running out of them, of course. She could manage one day, but it always made her sad. Jonathan had once caught her tearing up before the freezer and after finding out the problem, and chuckling at her a little, they had drove to the store together. He had bought her all her favorites.

It had to be the like, which she felt. The idea of not seeing Mike... She curled under the blankets, trying to fight away the weird feeling in her stomach. 

El hoped that he wasn't really mad at her. At least not for long, because she couldn't take that. She hated the feeling, the sick squirming inside of her, which returned every time she thought he was mad or disappointed at her. It didn't leave easily, either.

 

El had almost fell asleep when her door slowly opened, light from the hallway brightening her room.

"El?", she heard a whisper.

"Mike?", she whispered back, blinking slowly. 

"Did I wake you?"

"No". She sat up, as her eyes got accustomed to the change of lightning in the room. 

Mike scratched his arm awkwardly, wearing a white tee and grey pajama bottoms. 

"Come", she whispered softly.

He immediately closed the door behind him, careful to not to make a sound, and came to her. He sat on the edge of her bed, looking at her with worry in his eyes.

"I'm sorry", he told her. "I couldn't sleep."

"Why?"

"I was afraid... that I had hurt you, your feelings", he got out, before looking down. "I-I guess I got jealous."

El scrunched up her nose as she leaned a little closer to him, waiting for him to continue.

"I liked it, falling asleep next to you on Will's birthday", Mike's voice was unsure, afraid that she would disagree with him. "And I guess I got sad, when I knew you wouldn't be there, now."

He hit himself inwardly. It wasn't the real reason. Well, it was, but not all of it. Not the _whole_ reason. 

But El made room for him, lifting the covers for him to get under them.

It didn't take long for Mike to comply, settling next to her into the bed. They leaned against the pillows and the head board, side by side. Their legs and arms brushed together, sending tingles all over his body. 

"I'm not allowed to sleep in the same room", El whispered, "with you."

Mike's cheeks flushed bright red, and he turned to look at her. "W-why?'

"I told mom, that I like you", she said, staring back at him. His eyes looked black, the room was so dark. The lights on the wall helped, but only a little.

He swallowed hard. "You did?"

"Yes."

"Is this okay, then?", Mike asked.

"...No."

"I can leave, I mean, if you want me to." He didn't want to leave.

"I don't want you to", she whispered.

They stared at each other for a while, before El settled down, Mike following her lead. She turned to him at the same time that he turned to his side, to face her.

She lifter her hand, slowly bringing it before his face. Mike glanced at it, before turning his gaze on her. She looked at him, not in the eyes but close. She touched his face then, gently, and he held his breath. 

El drew a line across his skin, from his forehead to his temple. From his cheek to his chin, tracing the line of his nose... Before she brushed her finger over his lips, causing him to swallow hard.

He closed his eyes, as she continued. 

She brushed her finger over his closed lids, before continuing down his cheek again. 

It felt really, really nice. 

He remembered what her fingers had felt like in his hair, how they'd made him shiver. And this... This was even better. He was filled with the thrilling feeling once again, his heart fluttering at a supernatural speed.

When he felt her cuddle closer he opened his eyes, immediately locking them with hers. He bit his lip, before taking her hand and lacing their fingers. 

"I liked that", Mike whispered, startled by the raspy sound he let out.

"Yes?", she smiled shyly.

"It... I don't know, I guess it tickles a bit", he told her.

El eyed him for a while, before lifting their joined hands up. 

"Do it to me?", she asked softly.

"Oh, o-okay", he got out, and she let go of his hand. 

She brought her own hand to his chest instead, taking a gentle hold of his shirt.

Mike's finger felt like it was on fire, compared to her cool skin. He touched her temple, before brushing his finger to her cheek and from there all the way down to her chin.

"Hm", she let out, closing her eyes.

He hoped his heart didn't come out of his chest anytime soon. He traced the turn of her nose, her eyelids, and then gently touched her lashes.

El let out a small giggle, coming a little closer to him. 

"D-did that tickle?", he breathed out, mesmerized by the sound he had just heard.

"Yes", she whispered with a smile, not opening her eyes. 

He stroked her another eyelid then, brushing her lashes again, before drawing a line from her cheekbone to another, over her nose...

Feeling braver by every passing minute, Mike brushed his finger down her cheek. He then traced the line of her lips gently, like she had done to him. 

She still had her eyes closed, when he leaned in and pressed a shy kiss to her forehead.

El cuddled even closer to him, if possible, both of her hands sliding up from where they had rested against his chest. The other stayed over his collarbone, while the other went to his hair, as she tucked her head under his chin. 

"Are you sleepy?", he whispered, bringing his other arm around her. He was blushing so hard, he knew it, but he couldn't care less at the moment. She fiddled with his hair, and he loved it.

"No", she mumbled. "Can we stay? Like this?", she asked softly.

"S-sure", Mike swallowed, before lifting his hand to her hair. He took a deep breath, as his fingers tangled with her still slightly wet curls. "Just...I can't fall asleep, that's all."

El pulled back, to look up at him. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah, a bit", he admitted, looking at her. "And this is nice", he added, blushing at his own words.

Her hair felt like silk against his fingers, and he wasn't sure why he didn't touch her hair more often.

"Mike?", she asked then, her voice uncertain.

"Hm?"

She bit her lip. "How much do people kiss?", she got out slowly, eyeing him.

"W-why do you ask?", he stammered in a low voice.

"Because", El said, her fingers coming to gently touch his lips. 

Mike swallowed, glancing at her lips. "I-I don't know... It depends", he got out, whispering against her fingers.

"On?"

"On people", he answered weakly.

El leaned in and kissed him, briefly, before she glanced up at him. 

And Mike did nothing, but stare at her. 

Then she did it again.

El didn't ask more questions after that, no matter how long he waited. Instead she cuddled back against him, tangling her legs with his. He could feel her cool bare legs against his skin, as his pants legs had hitched up. 

And Mike pulled her a little closer, hoping that it could be like that every night.

 

Lucas couldn't sleep. 

Mike had sneaked out of the room a while ago, and because he was such a good friend, Lucas hadn't stopped him. He knew, that his friend had went to El.

He turned to look at Will, who slept on his side and had turned towards his friends. Dustin and Will had fell asleep at the same time, like they did almost at every sleepover. 

But this time, Lucas had pretended to be asleep, too, so he didn't have to talk. He had nothing against Mike, he just... He didn't want to talk.

He stared at Will, wondering why he felt like he did towards him. 

Like he was mad at him. And the problem was, that he had no idea what he was even mad about. 

The idea of Will and El sleeping together, in the same bed, crossed his mind. He screwed his eyes shut, turning his head away, inwardly cursing. _What was wrong with him?_

Lucas opened his eyes, to stare at the ceiling. 

Did he have a crush on El?

Even the thought made him frown. _No, that couldn't be right..._

But the idea of the two still haunted him.

Then he realized it. He felt like laughing at himself, after taking so long to figure it out.

It was wrong, sleeping in the same bed, because Will was like a brother to El.

It had to be the reason, as Lucas felt slightly better already. 

Will was El's brother. And the idea of them, together, grossed him out.

 

"I should go", Mike mumbled, after he had almost fell asleep with El in his arms. 

She opened her eyes, rubbing them sleepily, and he felt like the biggest jerk in history for waking her up. 

But El walked him to the door, and made sure first that no one was in the hallway. 

Before leaving her room, Mike mustered all his courage and leaned down to peck at her lips. 

"Goodnight", he whispered to her.

"Goodnight", El told him, before letting go of his hand.

Mike slipped under his covers, hoping that his friends hadn't noticed how long he had been gone.

 

After the boys woke up in the morning they went downstairs for breakfast, which had been made ready for them.

 _'Out with Chewy. - mom'_ , said a note on the table, under which Jim had scribbled _'at work, -J'_ , with an added _'me too - Jon'_ on the bottom. 

As Will read the note, the boys gathered behind him.

"Is this how your family communicates?", Dustin asked, reading over his friend's shoulder.

"Sometimes, yeah", Will nodded, putting the note back down. "Mom wants everyone to tell, where they are... And this way no one forgets, you know?"

"Smart", Lucas commented.

"Our family just yells", Mike said, blinking at the note that was now back on the counter. 

Dustin eyed him in wonder. "Your dad yells, too?"

Mike turned to him, before his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know, I guess?"

"You guess?", Lucas asked him.

"Yeah", Mike shrugged, turning his gaze away from them. "I guess."

 

El came into the kitchen a while after, still in pajamas like the boys. "Morning."

"Good morning", the boys chorused. They sat around the counter, already eating their pancakes.

Mike felt his throat dry, when he locked eyes with her. She smiled at him, before she stopped to read the note on the counter, too. 

Her hair was slightly curly, and a complete mess really, causing him to smile shyly. He watched how she yawned and stretched, while going to the fridge.

"You don't want pancakes?", Will asked, making sure.

"You can eat them", El told him, after turning around to eye the pile.

"Thanks, El", Dustin cheered, before taking another.

El liked eating eggs for breakfast in the weekends. That was something she had learned to love, because of her first morning in her new life. 

She smiled, remembering how Jim had cried while cutting the onions. She went with scrambled eggs this time, wanting something simple. After watching the eggs cook on the pan for a few second, she went to fetch few eggos and put them to the toaster.

Mike beamed at his plate, as El came to eat at the counter with the boys, leaning on her other hand. And also because, and luckily, the counter wasn't that large, he get to keep looking at her up close.

"Should we continue, after we're done?, Will asked.

"Yeah", Dustin agreed, Lucas nodding.

"I will change first", El said, while taking a glass of juice. She then glanced at Mike, whose cheeks were red while he ate in silence. Feeling a shy smile tugging her lips, she went back to her breakfast.

 

Mike found himself eyeing her plate, as the rest of the boys kept chatting. 

"Have you ever tried eggs with syrup?", he asked suddenly.

El lifted her gaze to meet his. "Why?"

"I just thought", he told her. 

"She meant 'why', as in why would anyone want to ruin their eggs?", Lucas chuckled.

"No", El told him, before turning back to Mike. "Is it good?"

"Yeah...", he mumbled. "Well, I eat them like that, with syrup."

She looked at him for a while, before taking a piece of egg in her fork and dipping it in syrup. She locked her eyes with his, as she ate it.

Mike waited for her reaction, and broke into a smile immediately when she did.

"It's good", El told him.

"Yeah?", he chuckled, as Lucas made a face and Will sniggered at them all.

"You're both mental", Dustin declared, shaking his head. "That's just gross."

 

"You sneaked into her room, didn't you?", Dustin said suddenly, in the middle of the game, grinning amusedly at Mike and El's shocked faces. "Last night."

"What?", Will asked slowly, looking between the pair.

"How did you come up with that?", Lucas laughed.

"Just, look at them", Dustin said, pointing at the two. 

Mike sat at the head of the table, and was trying to hide his red cheeks behind the binder. El sat on his left side, staring at Dustin with her wide eyes.

"I-I didn't", Mike stuttered, while his whole face was slowly turning red.

"You did!", Lucas laughed at his friends expression. Well he had known it, but man, his face...

El immediately turned to look at Will, alarmed. _Don't tell mom or dad._

_You didn't do anything...like that, right?_ , he asked, eyebrows furrowed.

 _No_ , she told him. Her cheeks turned light pink. 

"El?", he said aloud then, before turning to look at Mike. "Don't tell me!", he said fast, when Mike was about to open his mouth. "No details, please!"

"We didn't...", Mike muttered, feeling like he should disappear under the table or something. 

Lucas laughed, pumping Mike's arm with his fist from the boy's other side. 

"Uh-huh", Dustin grinned. "You definitely did something."

"It's none of your business", Mike groaned, covering his face. "But sure do remind me to torture you later on, when you...", he trailed off, not wanting to continue further.

"Just tell us", Lucas laughed.

"No!"

"We kissed", El said, silencing the boys, before getting up from her seat. "I want soda. When I get back, we'll continue", she stopped to glance at the boys, "...the game." 

The boys nodded slowly, watching her go up the stairs.

"You're so whipped", Dustin grinned at Mike, chuckling.

"Actually, I think that you are the ones, that are whipped", Mike said honestly.

"Nahh...", Lucas leaned back in his chair, sighing. "We're all whipped."

Will glanced at him, smirking.

 

El returned a moment later, bringing a large bottle of coke straight from the fridge with five cups stacked in her other hand. She only poured for herself, and sipped the cold drink contently while the boys stared at her.

"You have hands, too", she pointed out, as the boys seemed to be waiting.

Mike burst out in laughter, dropping his head behind the folder. His hand came to grasp El's a moment later, from under the table.

She squeezed it with an amused grin on her face, while concentrating to the sound of his laughter, as the rest of the boys joined in and the room filled with the happy mixture of chuckles.

 

"I can do the invisibility spell!", Will exclaimed. "We can get her to the prince's chambers, past the guards, while we fight them!"

"Do it!", Lucas hurried him.

El handed a die over to Will, who took it. But he didn't throw it yet.

"This is it, guys", Dustin said, looking at his party. "The only good chance we've got!"

"What a good pep talk, thanks man!", Lucas told him, turning to Will. "We can do this!"

Will nodded. He shook the die between his palms, before throwing it. They all leaned forward on the table, watching it spin.

And stop.

"YES!"

"Eleanor the Enthralling continues her way, now invisible. She leaves the door to the east wing open, for the rest of her party to follow,--."

 

The next turns were loud. And not loud, like traffic on a busy road in the morning. 

Loud, as in an outsider would have needed ear plugs to stay in the same room with them.

The boys kept fighting the guards, while El took turns trying to open the door which lead to the prince's chambers. 

She frowned, after failing the die roll once again. Her time was running out. The spell would end soon, after which the guards would notice her and she would then be targeted, too.

"You still have one try", Dustin comforted her, before it was his turn to attack.

El nodded, concentrating on what happened with the boys. She felt guilty for not being able to help them, as they all were wounded. 

 

On the next round, however, she finally succeeded. She got the door open.

And after that, the boys killed of the rest of the guards. 

Their party was together, again, now facing their last challenge as one.

"The prince's chambers seem empty, as you enter them", Mike told them. "But he greets you, his voice traveling along the walls. The prince steps out from the shadows, slowly crossing the room towards you..."

El leaned onto her hand, staring at him as he spoke. 

He made the mistake of glancing at her, which messed his thoughts for a few seconds.

"...He, the prince, he tells you what he has done", Mike continued. "How many lives he has taken in order to get what he desires, and how many have suffered because of him. But he refuses to stop. He has a war, which he wants to win, and he needs weapons for it."

Dustin, Lucas, Will, and El stared at him, waiting.

"You are left with two options", Mike stated. "Either remove the poison, which has been controlling his mind, or fight him... To death...", he glanced at them all. "Choose your action."

The four turned to each other, then, thinking over Mike's words.

"Fighting would be easier", Dustin said. "There's four of us, and one of him."

"Yeah", Lucas nodded along.

"But we could still save him", El told the boys. "I can remove the poison."

"That's what we came for, guys", Will agreed with her. "We came to help him, not kill him."

The four of them eyed each other for a while.

"Could you, Eleanor the Enthralling", Dustin asked El then, reaching for her hand over the table and held it theatrically, like men held the hands of ladies in movies. "...help us save the prince?"

"Yes", El smiled, her eyes twinkling with laughter and determination. "But I need my knight", she told Dustin, "and my rogue", she turned to Lucas, before looking at Will, "and my wizard, by my side."

The boys beamed at her.

Mike knew that she had learned her ways from them, mostly from Dustin. But still, he was proud. 

"Let's do this!", Dustin grinned. 

"Will the Wise...", Lucas said. "Cast the shield spell."

It turned out to be the sweetest victory ever, in their Dungeons & Dragons history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. If someone plays D&D, forgive me. I don't.


	25. Who you gonna call?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I love how patient you are with me, even after slowing down my updating schedule. Thanks for the amazing comments, kudos, and hits <3

**Who you gonna call?**

 

Summer 1985

 

During a few weeks of time El and Max had formed an unlikely friendship, seeing each other a couple times a week after school. 

They walked around Hawkins, or simply sat down to the ground at a park while they spoke. They talked about bigger things sometimes, like about Max's stepfather who was in prison, about her stepbrother who she kept badmouthing, and about her mother who apparently drank a lot.

El in turn spoke about a papa, who hadn't cared for her like parents should. And about a mother she had never seen, who had died just recently. But she also told Max about her new family and how happy she was with them.

Max usually came over for dinner when they hang out, and neither Joyce or Jim minded about it.

They thought it would be good for El to get some girl friends, too. Even though Max wasn't a kid with a normal background, nor as girly as some other girls were, they knew she had no bad intentions towards their newfound daughter. 

The boys were still on their guard about the whole friendship. But after seeing the girls together and saw how well they got along, Will told his friends not to worry about it. 

Well, they all did, still. None of them wanted El to completely forget about them.

 

The boys biked a little behind El and Max, as they were going home after school.

Well, the girls were on their way to Will and El's, and the boys to Dustin's home.

"Can I hold on?", they heard Max ask.

"Yes, but don't fall."

"I won't, I won't..!"

Then they watched as the girl took a hold of the bike's back holder and then simply stood on her skateboard, drifting along her friend's bike.

"We're getting better at this!", Max exclaimed cheerily.

El's laughter filled the air, and Mike found himself smiling, too. 

 

They, the boys and El, were spending Friday evening in Mike's basement. The boys were in the middle of a game of Magic, while El was building her own deck. 

Her legs crossed, she sat on the couch with the cards scattered on the table before her. She was listening to one of her own mix tapes through a Walkman, which Nancy had loaned to her. 

"I'll use these...", Lucas begun, tapping cards to their sides, "and I'll present you a few goblins." He put cards on the table from his hand, smiling widely.

"A few?", Mike chuckled. "More like five of them."

"Why are they so cheap?", Will wondered, leaning to see his friend's cards.

"Because they're basically trash", Lucas shrugged, grinning at him. "Cheap trash."

"Annoying trash", Dustin sighed, looking at his own cards. "Well, I'm widening my ranks, too", he said while tapping his locations, before hitting cards to the table. 

" _Don't you..._ ", El suddenly sang in a soft voice, startling them all. " _...forget about me..._ "

They glanced at each other, before slowly turning their heads to look at the girl.

" _I'll be alone..._ ", she sang, while staring at the cards before her. " _...dancing, you know it, baby..._ ", she trailed off as she picked up a pile of cards, and begun going through them.

Will smiled at her, having heard her sing before, before turning to look at his friends. Dustin had his mouth open as he stared at her, Lucas' eyes were huge and he smiled widely, while Mike sported a blush on his grinning face.

"I don't think she even realizes, what she's doing", Will told his friends softly. "She doesn't usually sing, not around other people."

"You've heard her sing, before?", Mike asked slowly, disbelievingly, turning his gaze to his friend.

"Yeah", Will nodded. "Sometimes, like when she listens to music in her room."

"She sings quite well, actually", Lucas commented, still watching her. He was waiting if they would hear a little more.

Dustin turned to his friends at the table. "I'm confused... Are you sure that's El?"

"It's El, alright", Lucas chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "She still finds ways to surprise me. Like, seriously?"

Mike turned his eyes back to her, watching at the way El kept categorizing the cards before her. 

She had her eyebrows knit together, in concentration, as her head kept slightly bobbing with the beat from the earphones.

The boys slowly continued the game, all of them waiting for her to sing again.

 

" _I hear the drums echoing tonight..._ ", El sang suddenly, and the boys immediately stopped in the middle of their game to listen. " _...but she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation..._ "

Will smiled, as he heard her continue with the song. He kept his back turned to her, instead watching his friends.

Lucas turned to him with an excited grin, causing Will to chuckle. Dustin had his head turned so that he saw her, and he looked just as surprised as he had before. And Mike stared at her, as she continued singing, his lips slightly parted.

" _It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you.._ ", she sang, oblivious of the attention she had gained. " _There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do..._ "

Her voice was soft, even softer than what Mike had heard it be before. She didn't sing perfectly, didn't hit all the notes and what not, but it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

Meanwhile, El checked the deck she had made. It was a combination of white and green, consisting of all her favorite things. The boys had given her all their extra cards. And the freedom to build a deck on her own, after they all had tried to help her at the same time. It had been a mess.

" _Hurry, boy, she's waiting there for you..._ ", she sang along, while going through the cards one more time. Then she beamed at her deck, before pulling the headphones off with her other hand. "The deck", she told the boys, who immediately turned to look at her. "It's ready."

Her friends stared at her for a while, and El waved the finished deck in her hands for them to see.

Lucas turned to Will. "You were right... She doesn't have a clue."

"What?", she asked, confusedly glancing at the pile of cards in her hand and then on the table before her. 

Lucas and Dustin chuckled, as Mike and Will kept grinning. "Nothing", they chorused.

 

Summer came and the boys left middle school with quite good grades, each of them. They begun to focus on El's skills on English almost immediately, making her write essays and stuff as she hadn't really written a lot before. 

When Lucas' mother, who actually writes for a living, found out, she immediately took over. It didn't matter to her that she was basically about to pop with the baby - she had enough energy to teach El. The boys got a confusing lecture from her, as half of it were praises for their selfless work, and the other basically accusing them of sabotaging the poor girl's chances before school even had begun. They pretty much left El to Mrs. Sinclair's mercy after that.

But El loved being taught by Pearl. The woman had her read small books or chapters of larger ones, of which she later wrote about. Her thoughts, questions... anything that came to mind. Then they'd go through the text together, correcting any misspelled words and arranging sentences so that they made more sense.

The boys felt a little confused, as they really had wanted to help her. And while El studied, they got to have a summer vacation, which didn't feel fair to them. All of them agreed, that it had been the girl who had worked the hardest during the year. 

Despite being told not to meddle, Mike kept finding her books which she was always happy to get, and the boys introduced her into the world of comics. 

Nancy had suggested for her to keep a diary, as early as in January already, after having bought her one as a housewarming present. And El had kept doing that, usually writing down the things which she had dreamt about. Or things that wouldn't leave her mind otherwise. 

Sometimes, and just sometimes, El felt like she wanted to quit. She felt cornered, suffocated even, as her friends and family kept pushing things to her hands and ideas to her head. 

She felt like she wasn't learning fast enough, that she couldn't even learn the things the others wanted her to. 

On those days, El waited for Joyce to get home and give her a long, tight hug. And a lot of kisses.

After that, she went back to studying with new energy.

 

It was the first really hot day of the summer, and the kids were over at Lucas' house to see the newborn baby Sinclair.

"He's so small", El whispered, making Lucas' mother smile.

"He is", Pearl whispered, looking at the girl sitting next to her on the couch. "Do you want to hold him?"

El looked unsure. "I haven't held a baby."

"It's not hard", Lucas whispered.

"Look how my arms are and put them like that", Pearl said softly, and the girl complied. "Here we go", she murmured, moving the sleeping bundle to the girl's arms.

The baby kept sleeping and the boys gathered closer to see him, too. 

El looked down at the small figure, amazed by it. She had never seen a baby, except on television and on movies. It was even tinier than she had thought, lighter too. 

"You have the same nose, Lucas", Will whispered, smiling at the baby.

"You look exactly the same", Dustin said in a small voice. "I don't see any difference", he looked between the baby and his friend. "Just two babies."

Lucas pushed him a little.

"He's cute", Mike whispered, and El smiled at him before turning her eyes back to the bundle.

 

They went for an ice cold lemonade into the kitchen, and Lucas opened the slide doors to the shadowy backyard. The kids all shuffled outside, none of them wearing shoes. 

The grass felt better than anything in a long time, under their bare feet.

"Ah...", Dustin sighed, with a glass in his hand. "This is what I'm talking about..."

"It's nice", El nodded, enjoying the way the wind cooled her down and made the hem of her dress flow.

"I need a dip", Lucas said then, turning to look at Will. "We don't have that kid pool anymore", he said in an apologetic tone.

"We have a pond", Will answered with eyes closed, as he enjoyed the gentle wind. Then he opened his eyes, to look at his friends. "We have a pond!"

"Yes!", Dustin cheered.

"Shh!", Lucas immediately hushed them. "The baby!", he reminded them.

All the boys made a face, while El glanced worriedly at the house. They listened for a few seconds, but after they didn't hear anything the boys sighed from relief. 

"If we all just get our stuff, and go?", Mike suggested, making everyone nod.

 

Once at home, El went to her room to change. 

It was a simple pink bikini, which she had chosen while shopping with Nancy in the beginning of the summer. 

'Cute' was how Nancy had commented it. 

El eyed herself from the mirror in her room, wondering if she looked 'cute' with the bikini. She had no idea. She then wrapped a towel around herself, before going out and to the wooden pier. 

Leaving the towel on the side, she went to dip her toes into the water.

"You can swim, right?", Will asked, making her turn her head to look at him.

"Yes", she nodded, smiling a little. Then she met Mike's gaze, who simply stood there looking at her with his pink tinted cheeks.

Mike's mouth felt dry, seeing her like that for the first time. Her legs were so long and slim, and she was simply, well, perfect. He felt scrawny, while looking at her. 

But after she turned her head, and he saw her smile at him... He felt a lot better.

El then turned around and dived into the water. When she surfaced, pushing hair back from her face, the boys clapped.

"Is it cold?", Lucas asked, grinning.

"It's nice", she smiled.

Dustin pushed Lucas off the pier, who fell into the water with a shriek.

"I hate you!", the boy screamed, before turning to El. "And this is cold!"

There was a splash and soon Dustin came to them, before spraying her face with water.

"It's freezing cold", he told the girl. "Liar."

"I said it's nice, not warm", she said, while Mike and Will debated who'd go first from the two of them.

The three looked at them, eyebrows raised.

"Can't you just, I don't know, use your powers and pull them in?", Lucas asked, smirking a little.

"That's not nice", El told him, despite smiling too, while looking at the two boys playfully shoving each other.

"It's not...", Dustin agreed. "But it's fun."

"El will throw you into the water, if you don't jump!", Lucas informed their two friends, who turned to look at the girl, both alarmed.

Mike shook his head, before jumping in.

Will dived in soon after, letting out a horrified shriek once he surfaced. "Oh, god!", he shivered.

"How can it be this cold?", Mike asked, looking at his friends in shock.

El swam on her back a little, before getting back to the boys, enjoying the water.

"I didn't even think about asking you before, if you could swim", Will said, while watching her. 

"I had to swim. To stay healthy."

"Yeah?", Mike looked at her. It was something she had never spoke about before.

"And I liked it", El smiled a bit. "They didn't monitor me."

Even though she smiled, the boys all got a feeling that it wasn't that simple.

"But", Dustin looked at her. "Have you ever had a water fight?", he asked, making the girl shake her head in wonder.

"Then, what are we waiting for!", Lucas said before splashing Dustin, who spluttered in reaction.

"I wasn't ready!", the boy yelled, before he begun his revenge.

"You just splash everyone, as much as you can", Will told El, before shoving water at Lucas.

"Why are you getting me, for?", Lucas asked him, amused.

"You were the closest?", Will tried, before getting water to his face.

And they splashed and yelled in the pond for a while, slowly getting used to the water temperature.

 

El got up a while after and sat on the pier with a towel around her, legs dangling in the water. She watched how the boys goofed around, playing some game she didn't understand. 

She leaned down to her back. The sun, and the towel wrapped around her, warmed her quite fast. Feeling content she closed her eyes, while listening to the laughter with a small smile on her face. 

She heard some scratching noises, but didn't care enough to open her eyes. That was why Chewy surprised her, when he came to show his affection by suddenly licking her face. The dog then laid down next to her, front paws off the pier and ready to jump into the water if needed.

When Chewy barked, she didn't think anything of it.

Then a hand grabbed her foot, making her jump back up. She met the grinning face of Mike and sighed from relief. 

El glanced at the rest of the boys briefly, but they were still occupied while playing something.

"You have really tiny feet", Mike told her, turning her foot around in his hand. "Cute", he said, while blushing brightly.

El looked down at him, before gently pushing his chest with her another foot.

"Hey", Mike said, chuckling as he struggled to keep his balance. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I don't know", she shrugged playfully, making him smile even wider.

"Do you want to come back to the water?", he asked.

"It's warm here", El said, scratching Chewy absentmindedly while looking at the boy before her.

Mike bit his lip, before climbing to sit next to her. His skin felt warm against hers, as their legs touched, but the water didn't.

El lifted her free hand to his face, to brush back his wet bangs which almost covered his eyes. 

"It's not that cold", Mike told her, his voice breaking a little. "The water."

"You think?", she asked, gaining a nod from the boy. 

El got up, shrugging off her towel, before looking at the water. She had been hot and sweaty before, then cold in the water, but now she was slowly getting warm from the sun again. And she liked warm more.

"I think I'm done", she said slowly, turning back to look at the boy behind her. 

"This is a payback, okay? For the water balloons earlier", Mike told her, reminding her of something she and Dustin had done just two days before.

"This?", she asked, lifting her eyebrows.

"Nope", Mike shook his head. "But this!", he laughed, before pushing her into the water. He got in afterwards and went to her, as the rest of the boys laughed.

El stared at him, feeling betrayed and shivering from the sudden cold. Their feet touched the muddy bottom, the water reaching El's shoulders.

"You tricked me", she said, staring at him with her wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", he got out while laughing, coming to rub her arms. "Does this help?"

"Yes", she nodded, automatically cuddling closer to him for warmth. 

He shyly wrapped his arms around her, enveloping the girl in a hug. 

"Hey, lovebirds!", Dustin called. "Get a room!"

El dropped her face against his neck, while Mike tightened his hold around her shoulders. 

"Shut up, Dustin!", he yelled.

They boys kept laughing and teasing them, and El and Mike felt warm in every possible way.

 

When they grilled some meat and vegetables in the evening, with all of her family and friends, El knew that she loved summer.

They had a large table on the back porch, to which they had gathered around to. She sat next to Jonathan, being gladly away from the boys as they kept tricking each other: putting food into each other's mugs, or spilling drinks over their foods. 

How anyone could waste their food like that, she simply couldn't understand.

"I like your photos", El told Jonathan, who turned to smile at her. 

"Yeah?", he lowered his camera. He had been taking pictures of the boys, as they sat on the opposite side of them.

She nodded, lifting her bare feet onto the chair under her. 

Jonathan ruffled her hair gently. Joyce smiled at the two of them.

"I used the picture of you", he said after a while, smiling shyly at her. "For my application."

El looked at him, her eyes wide.

"It was such a good picture!", Joyce immediately coo'd, looking at the two of them.

"Which one?", Jim asked, cutting his steak.

"The one I took, one evening", Jonathan begun, "of El and Chewy sitting on the pier, in the dusk."

"They're looking into the same direction", Joyce said, and the boys listened now, too. "It's like--, like _they see something_ , that you don't, and you just want to find out what it is."

"You used it when you applied into NYU?", Will asked, excited. "That's so cool!"

"I did a portfolio of some pictures and drawings, and stuff", Jonathan shrugged. "I put a photo of both of you in it, too."

Will stared at him for a while, frozen in shock. "Which one?", he asked slowly.

Jonathan chuckled. "The one were you're dressed up, ready for a campaign." 

They had done it after Dustin's mother had kindly made them clothes to match their characters.

"No", Will groaned and covered his face, while the boys burst out in laughter.

"You're looking at yourselves from the mirror--."

"Please!", Will mumbled.

"No one else is going to see them, except the people who evaluate them", Jonathan reminded, while he kept smiling at his brother's obvious embarrassment.

"You were a handsome wizard", Joyce said, looking at his son. The boys laughed a little more, chuckling at their friends embarrassment. "And El was such a beautiful elf", she sighed while hugging the girl, who sat next to her, to her side.

Jonathan saw the way the boys smiled, especially Mike, while looking at El. He smirked.

"When will they contact you?", Jim asked, gaining his attention.

"Whenever they have decided", he shrugged.

"Where has your sister applied into, Mike?", Joyce asked, turning to the boy on the other side of the table.

"Um, I don't know", Mike shrugged, tearing his gaze away from El. "NYU, too, and some other places."

"Wouldn't that be nice", Joyce said, beaming at the idea already, "if both of them got in."

That had actually been Jonathan and Nancy's plan, all along. They just hadn't told anyone.

"I was thinking", Jim said slowly, "that Jonathan could take the car, which he has been using. We don't need three in a while. And if you both get in, you could split the expenses in travels", he smiled at Jonathan knowingly.

"Yeah", Jonathan nodded, sharing a look with El afterwards. 

They both had gotten that a lot lately, the adults talking about him and Nancy, her and Mike, and smiling ever so sweetly. 

Their parents liked dropping hints, and they liked dropping them big. 

The phone rang inside the house and Joyce was the first to get up. She disappeared inside, while the others continued dining. 

But not El. She put down her glass, waiting. A bad feeling formed inside of her, settling into her stomach. 

She was already getting up from the table, when Joyce came to get her. 

"It's for you, honey."

"I know", El nodded, going for the phone. 

She put the receiver on her ear, listening for a few seconds. "Hello?"

_"El?"_

"Max?", she asked, recognizing her voice. "Are you okay?"

 _"Yeah, of course"_ , Max laughed a little. _"Umm.. Could I come over? Stay at your place for the night?"_

"Something's wrong", El said.

_"Yeah."_

"Want me to get you?"

_"...Could you?"_

"Come outside, in ten minutes."

 _"Thanks, El"_ , Max whispered.

El stared at the phone for a few seconds after ending the call, before she went back to the porch. 

"I'll come back soon", she said while pulling her shoes on, which she had earlier taken off.

"Was she alright?", Joyce asked in a small voice, and El shook her head. "She can stay the night, if she wants." 

"Thanks, mom", El whispered.

"You need a ride?", Jim asked, but the girl shook her head again.

They boys were about to get up, but she told them not to.

"We'll come here", El told them, her eyes begging them to understand.

"If you're not back in half an hour, I'll come get you!", Jim yelled after the girl, who had already ran for her bike.

"I hope it's nothing serious", Joyce whispered, looking at the man next to her.

Jim nodded, brows furrowed.

 

When El got to Max's house the girl sat on the side of the road already, backpack at her feet. She had the hood of her hoodie on and over her cap, both of them shadowing her face.

"Let's go", El whispered, looking at the house. She heard loud music and other voices to the street, to where they were.

Max came to her, swinging the backpack on, and El saw her face. She had been crying. 

"What happened?"

"Nothing", the girl muttered, turning her head away. "Just some of that dick's friends came over... They don't like me."

"Hop on."

Max chuckled a little, before getting on behind her. "I so want to say that to you, one day... 'Hop on, Hopper!', that'd be so cool", she joked, making El smile a little in return.

 

They were almost at El's house, when Max spoke again. 

"One of them tried to force me, you know, to do things with him", she said, leaning her chin to the other girl's shoulder. "Billy didn't try to stop him, he didn't care."

El tightened her hold of the handlebar. 

Joyce had explained an article from a newspaper to her, a couple months before, after it had made the woman cry. And while she didn't know or understand a lot of things, El understood that.

"How did you get away?", she asked in a small voice.

"I hit him", Max said, lifting her right hand for El to see. Her knuckles were red and bloody.

"You hit him", El repeated, for some reason amazed by it.

"Yeah, I've practiced boxing a bit", Max nodded. "It came naturally, after I got pissed."

"Do you want me to talk to my dad?", El asked. 

"No", Max muttered. "That'll just make my mom mad. Can we just...not tell your parents. About what happened? Please?"

"They'll notice your hand", El pointed out, turning to her front yard. "We'll have to get it cleaned."

"Sure", Max said, before following her friend inside.

"We're here", El said when they passed the slide doors to the back porch. She pulled her friend to the bathroom, and locked the door. 

Max sat down on the closed toilet seat, while her friend searched the cabinets for what she needed. El then cleaned the wounds, Max whining a little because of the burn, and then wrapped the whole hand up. 

"You burned your hand", El said, her voice tight. "Put it on a stove."

Max looked at her with wide eyes, before slowly nodding.

 

When they went to the porch Jonathan had found himself another chair, and El sat Max down between her and Joyce.

"Hi", Max smiled a little.

"Are you hungry?", Joyce asked the girl, smiling softly.

"Yeah", Max nodded. "Haven't eaten anything today", she said without giving thought to her words before saying them, like she hardly did.

But Jim tensed up a little, worry filling him. He knew that teenagers sometimes rebelled, skipped meals, and such. But this wasn't like that. Joyce had heard the same thing as he had, the meaning behind the girl's words not lost on her either.

"Well, we're quite full already", Joyce said, starting to fill a plate for the girl, "so eat as much as you want, okay? And oh, there's ice cream in the fridge", she told the boys then, who immediately got up and rushed inside.

Joyce and Jim soon moved inside, Jonathan too with a pat to El's head as he passed her.

"They're so nice", Max said then, for El only to hear. "For you and for me. Heck, you have all your friends over for dinner."

"You can always come here", El promised, finishing her own plate of now cooled down food. Cold, grilled meat wasn't bad. Cold mushrooms on the other hand, they had gone soggy. But she ate them anyway.

"Thanks. Really...thanks, El."

The boys got back, sitting down across from the two girls with their ice cream bowls.

"What happened to your hand?", Dustin asked, after a weird silence that had fell on the table.

"I burned it", Max said, glancing at El. "Put it on the stove on accident."

"Ouch", Dustin said, his eyebrows high. 

Lucas frowned at his ice cream. Mike and Will glanced at El, not sure how they should react.

"Yeah, it hurts", Max agreed while cutting her food.

"What ice cream do we have?", El asked while peering over to look at Will's bowl, who sat on the opposite side of the table from her.

"Triple chocolate", the boy chuckled. "Well, had. Sorry... But there's still that cherry one left."

El scrunched up her nose, leaning back in her chair. "I don't want it", she said softly.

"Why not?", Max asked her, eyebrows furrowed. "It's one of my favorites."

El shrugged. "That one, it tastes like brownies", she said, glancing at the bowls the boys had. 

"I can share mine", Will said. "You shared yours with us", he reminded her, motioning between him and Mike.

"We kind of owe you ice cream, I guess", Mike chuckled, looking at her with a shy smile.

El nodded slowly, and Will pushed his bowl closer to her with a grin on his face. She leaned over the table again and took a couple spoonfuls, before reaching for Mike's bowl.

"Hey, I want my spoon back", Will laughed, trying to pry it off her hand.

"Whipped", Lucas commented, while eating his own dessert in peace. 

Dustin and Max laughed, looking at the three sharing their ice creams.

After taking a little from Mike's bowl too, El returned the spoon to Will who shook his head at her. "Remind me to not eat your ice cream, the next time."

"You went between a girl and her ice cream", Max commented with a smirk. "A rookie mistake..."

El smiled at her.

"So...", Will begun, looking at Max. "You're staying for the night?"

"She is", El confirmed.

"Yeah, apparently", Max said, shrugging.

"Okay", Will nodded, glancing at El. "Cool."

 

After the boys left for home, El let Max take a shower first, herself going in afterwards. When she got back, Max sat on a windowsill looking into the forest.

"You want a mattress or..?", El trailed off, not sure how other people did these things. This was her first sleepover with a girl. She was quite sure that Nancy didn't count, as she was like a sister to her. "We have a few, in the basement."

"Your bed is big enough for both of us", Max shrugged. "But if you want, we can go get a mattress", she added, turning to look at her.

"I don't mind, sleeping in the same bed", El said shyly.

"Okay, cool", Max nodded. She slid down from the windowsill to get a brush, starting to untangle her wet hair but got frustrated in only a few seconds. "God, I hate this", she muttered, ready to throw the brush as far as she could.

"Can I?", El asked, having watched how hard it had looked. Max's hair wasn't long, it was shorter than El's whose hair almost reached her shoulders, but it was thick and messy. 

"If you want."

And El wanted. She gently went through the girl's hair, in small parts.

"You're so girly", Max said suddenly. "Like, look at your room and all."

"Is it a bad thing?"

"I guess not. But I'm not like that."

"Does it make you...uncomfortable?", El asked slowly.

"No. It's just weird, and new, that's all. But you're nice and I like you, so it doesn't really matter if you like some things that I don't."

"Good", El said softly. "It's done", she told Max then, giving her the brush back.

Max lifted her hands to her hair, brushing her fingers through it. "Nice, thanks El."

 

They moved into the bed after that and laid there a while, neither of them speaking.

"Where is your mother?", El asked, breaking the silence while turning to look at the other girl.

"I don't know", Max stared at the ceiling. "She left yesterday."

"You're not worried?"

"Sometimes... But she can be gone for a week, or longer, and then come back like nothing happened. I'm used to it."

"But... it's not nice."

"Yeah, it's not. It's shit, but what can I do?", Max turned to look at El. 

"You'll come to my home."

"Every time?", Max asked, staring at her with her blue eyes.

"Yes", El nodded.

"What will your parents say?"

"That you should come."

"You sure?"

"I am."

Max stared at her, before offering her a small smile. El smiled back, before she took a better position. That was when Max suddenly grabbed her left arm, pulling it gently closer.

 _The tattoo_ , El remembered immediately. 

Her bracelet usually covered it, but she had taken it off before the shower.

"What's this?", Max asked, confused. "Eleven? Is that a nickname or something?"

"Yes?", El swallowed. 

"Did you drew this, or was it one of your friends?"

El wasn't sure if she should lie, or tell the truth.

"I drew it", she whispered, feeling a bang on her heart. 

Max nodded, letting go of her hand. "I draw a lot on my hands, too."


	26. Pretty young thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. You know what is the one thing, that I'm struggling the most while writing this? 
> 
> How to channel the fourteen-year-old me back. 
> 
> My friends were older than me and now that I think about it, I have done way too many things too young. Like smoking my first cig, getting drunk, all that. Relationship stuff, too. And while writing this, I find myself missing something I've never had.
> 
> And I'm trying really hard to get something, even somewhat realistic for you guys to read. You're all so amazing and you definitely deserve it.
> 
>  
> 
> BUT ENOUGH OF ME, let's go camping with the kiddos >

**Pretty young thing**

 

The boys wanted to take El camping, which she had obviously never done before. Lucas' father agreed to take the children, and somehow managed to get Dustin's father to tag along to the idea. But as they only had two tents, even with combined forces, they had to go get more.

So, Mr. Sinclair drove the five kids to look at tents on one summer afternoon.

"This is a tent?", El asked Mike, glancing inside one on display.

"Yeah", Mike agreed, looking at her. "You sleep in a sleeping bag, inside of it."

"Okay." She looked weirded out by the idea, which made Mike smile.

"It's fun, really", he told her. "Besides, you only sleep in a tent. The other stuff you do while camping, you do it outside."

El turned to look at him, with a slight frown on her face. "But I need to sleep alone."

"Oh", he felt like an idiot. "I'm sorry, El..."

"It's not your fault", she said softly, before looking into the next tent.

"What if...you ask Max, to come with us?", Mike suggested shyly. He didn't really know the girl, but El seemed to like her and he wanted her to be happy. "You wouldn't be sleeping alone, then."

"Can I ask her?", El turned back to him, her eyebrows furrowed.

Mike stared at her, blinking. "Why not?"

"We found the tents, already", Will said, coming over with Lucas and Dustin. Then he saw El's expression and looked between the two in wonder. "Did we miss something?"

"I suggested, that maybe she could ask Max to come, too", Mike explained.

Will nodded in thought, turning back to El. "Do you want to ask her?"

"Yes", El said slowly, eyeing her friends. "...If I can?"

"It's two nights trip", Mike reasoned, "and tents can be scary, while sleeping alone."

"I'll just tell my dad", Lucas told El, "you ask her, okay?"

"Is it fine?", El asked softly, gaining a smile from the boy.

"Yeah, it's cool."

 

Max immediately accepted the invitation.

"Do you need a number, for your mother?", El asked her over the phone, as Joyce had told her to. She had a list of different phone numbers on a slip of a paper, ready to be read out loud.

_"Nahh, she's gone 'til the end of the week. Visiting a friend or something."_

"Are you sure it's fine?"

_"If she comes back early, she won't even notice I'm gone. So, what do I need?"_

"Sleeping bag, swimming wear... It's two nights."

_"Cool! Can't wait."_

"We'll pick you up, on Thursday morning at nine. It's a long drive."

_"See you then, Hopper"_ , the girl said, and El could hear the laughter in her voice.

"See you, Max."

El hung the phone, and joined the boys at the table on the back of the house. "She'll come."

Lucas and Mike had fell into a conversation about what they should do on their short trip. El liked the sound of waterfalls, which Mike had suggested they should see.

"Cool", Dustin said while twirling a cork on the table, with a smile on his face. 

El eyed him for a while, curious of what the boy was thinking about.

_He likes her_ , Will told her. She glanced at him, smiling a little. 

_Are you okay? With her coming?_ , she asked then, watching his reactions intently.

_I guess_ , he told her, but she could feel the hesitation. He wasn't good at leaving things out.

_You don't like her._

Will looked uncomfortable. _No, it's not like that, I just.... I don't know._

_She's my friend_ , El told him, trying to get him to understand.

He looked at the table for a while. _What about us?_

_You're my brother, Will. And Dustin and Lucas, they're my best friends. And Mike_ , she thought, before deciding to stop, _...nothing will change about you._

Will grinned, before covering his mouth with a hand. _Good save, there._

_Shut up_ , she told him softly. The phrase had stuck to her head from the boys, but she rarely used it. She could feel his amusement in her head, telling her she had used it correctly this time.

_I'm not even talking_ , he pointed out.

_I'm not, either._

_How am I hearing voices in my head, then?_ , Will asked, his eyebrows lifted.

_You're mental_ , El told him. 

Then she let out a laugh, startling herself and Will. 

And the rest of the boys.

"What?", Mike asked with an amused smile, looking at her.

"Nothing", El told him, blushing a little. Will burst out in laughter.

"Nothing?", he questioned her, in the between of chuckles.

"You're mental", Dustin said, laughing at the sight of them. "Both of you."

"What just happened?", Lucas asked, confused, looking at his friends. 

"Are you okay?", Mike asked Will and El, who were now both laughing.

El turned away, covering her mouth in embarrassment, while Will had dropped his head on the table and was trying to calm down.

 

They packed into one large car on Thursday morning.

"How come your car is this big?", Mike asked, while getting into the third row of it with his two friends. "I don't remember it being this big." 

"My dad got a bigger one", Lucas shrugged. "He likes big cars."

"Well, I'm sure as hell not complaining", Dustin sighed, stretching his legs after sitting down. "We have a lot of room."

"All of you settled?", Samuel, Lucas' father questioned from behind the wheel.

"You have your seatbelt's on, right?", Calvin, Dustin's father continued.

"Yes, sirs!", the boys chorused, before erupting into tired chuckles.

"Well, let's go get Will and El", Samuel said, driving off from his house. 

Max lived in a whole different direction from them, but her house was on their way off town, which was why they'd pick her up last. Besides, it would be less weird to pick her up when they had El with them.

 

They drove to the yard, as Joyce and Jim were telling the kids how to behave. It wasn't that they didn't know, more like a friendly reminder they got.

Calvin opened his window, nodding to Jim. "Good morning officer", he said officially.

"Morning", Jim smirked and tilted his hat in greeting, dressed ready for work. "I'm not asking for your papers this time, I trust that you have them all in control. Especially with such a precious cargo, as yours will be."

"Yeah, will be", Calvin nodded. "The ones we have now... I was thinking of ditching them, on the first stop", he told Jim and Joyce, his face serious.

"DAD", came a shout from the backseat, along with some loud laughter.

"I'm just joking, Dustin, calm your horses", Calvin raised his voice, before turning back to the pair in front of him. "I'm not", he whispered to them, making Jim chuckle and Joyce let out an amused snort.

Samuel laughed, too, coming out to help the kids to put their things into the back of the car.

Joyce hugged El tight and smothered her in kisses, before Jim wrapped her into a big hug, briefly lifting her up. 

The boys laughed, from inside the car. 

Will got his hair ruffled by Jim and also accepted the kisses and a hug from their mother, before he got into the car and let El have the middle seat.

"That was cute", Lucas sniggered, leaning in to look at the two from the back.

Will turned his head to him, looking embarrassed, before trying to gently push his friend's head back with a finger against the other boy's forehead. But Lucas simply grinned at him, not budging the slightest.

 

The next stop was at Max's house and the girl got into the car after putting her stuff to the back, with only a little help from Samuel.

"Morning", she said, sitting down next to El.

"Morning", El smiled at her.

Max glanced at her, before smirking. "We're matching", she chuckled, pointing at her purple cap and then El's jacket, which were the exact same color.

"Oh", El said, comparing her sleeve with the other girl's cap, smiling widely. "Funny."

 

It didn't take long for the kids to calm down. 

Will fell asleep first and rested his head on El's shoulder, while the girl in question rested hers on his head. Max had curled against the window, wrapped in her hoodie.

In the back row, Dustin slept against the window, too, behind Max. Mike rested his head back against the headrest, while Lucas' head dropped every now and then, before he rested it on Mike's shoulder.

The fathers chuckled at them, before turning off the radio.

 

They stopped to a diner for a late breakfast, in the middle of their way. It had a beautiful scenery to a clearing in the woods and a river.

The kids took one booth, while the adults were told to take one further away from them. The men happily complied their sons' requests and simply pushed money to their hands.

Fathers needed their peace, too, if they could get some.

 

Mike sat on the other side with the girls, while Dustin, Will and Lucas took the other side of the table.

After tearing her gaze from the scene behind the window, El eyed the menu, not sure what to get.

"French toast is good, usually", Mike told her, noticing how long she kept staring at the paper.

"What about waffles?", she turned to him. She still hadn't had enough of them.

"If you take waffles, and I'll get the french toast?", he suggested, and smiled when she did, too.

"Yes", El beamed.

 

The kids ordered, all of them getting different things, and then waited for their foods.

"So", Max smirked, turning to her friend beside her. "Are you guys, like, _together_ together?"

El scrunched up her nose at her, while Mike's cheeks turned red. He had been playing with El's bracelet on the table, having absently even pulled her hand closer to him.

"Uh..", he glanced at El, who simply looked confused. 

"I don't know, what you mean."

Dustin choked on his water, couching and laughing at the same time. Lucas snorted immediately after El's words, and Will let out a laugh before covering his mouth. 

Max glanced at the boys, amused by their reactions.

"You're _killing_ me!", Dustin got out, in the between of coughing. Lucas brought a hand to pat his back, while listening to the ongoing conversation intently.

"I mean that is he, like, your boyfriend?", Max explained to El, having turned back to her.

"Boy friend?", El said slowly.

Max turned to the boys then, eyebrows raised in wonder. "What is the word in Swedish?", she asked, causing them to chuckle and shake their heads in response.

"I don't know", Will confessed, looking at El with a grin. "But what Max means is, do you like each other, more than friends do."

"Like...that he's special to you", Lucas added, smirking.

El nodded, not really getting the point.

"It's a label you use, boyfriend and girlfriend", Will told her, "to tell other people what that person means to you. Like, how I tell people that you're my sister."

"Oh", El's eyes widened, before she turned to Mike. 

And Mike looked really embarrassed, his whole face having turned bright red. 

She leaned to his ear, not wanting to embarrass him even more. "Am I your girlfriend?", she whispered before pulling away and looking at him, curious of what he'd say.

Mike swallowed. "If you want", he got out, voice so low that she barely heard him.

"Do you?", she asked softly.

He nodded a little.

"Oh my god", Lucas groaned, making the pair turn to them. "You hadn't even asked her!?"

Mike covered his face with his hands.

"Way to go, dude", Dustin chuckled, turning to El. "I thought that he had asked you, like, at Christmas or something."

"I thought it happened at the snow ball", Will said, finding the whole situation amusing.

El looked at the three, before glancing at her new friend.

"You're really bad at this stuff, aren't you?", Max smirked, and she nodded. 

"Mike's worse", Dustin chuckled. "El at least asks about these things, if she doesn't know."

"I'm right here, you know!", Mike raised his voice, feeling slightly offended.

"I know", Dustin turned to him. "And I think it's time for you to realize just how dense you are."

"He's super dense", Lucas huffed, rubbing his face in frustration. 

"I'm still here!", Mike reminded his other friend, throwing a crumbled up napkin at him. 

 

When their food came, Mike was delighted for the breather he got off from the teasing.

"You want to taste this?", he asked El, and cut out a piece for her after she nodded.

She took it with her fork, eyeing his plate curiously. "I like it", she said after the taste.

"Want to switch? One of yours, to one of mine?", Mike suggested.

"Yes", El smiled shyly, and they made the swap. 

Their friends acted like they hadn't seen anything.

 

The rest of the way went fast, as the kids begun playing the guess-what-game.

"Does it have...ears?", Will asked, having turned around in his seat.

"Yes", Lucas looked at him, chuckling.

"Does it eat meat?", Max asked.

"Yes."

"Is it a lion?", El asked then.

Lucas groaned.

"She guessed right?", Dustin asked in shock.

"Yes", Lucas huffed angrily. El turned to look at him, her eyes wide in worry, and he gave her head a small pat.

"Your turn El, choose an animal", Mike advised her, "one you know a lot about."

She thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Ready."

"Does it live on land?"

"Yes."

"Does it fly?"

"No."

"Does it eat meat?"

"Yes."

"Does it live in USA?"

"No."

"Does it live in...Europe?"

"No."

"In Asia?"

"No."

"North Pole?"

"....no."

"Africa?"

"Yes", El turned to smile at Mike.

"Oh my god...", Max groaned, sliding down on her seat. 

 

After asking a bunch of questions, the boys listed every possible animal they could think of.

"No", El repeated, for what felt like the hundredth time, amused.

"Come on, what is it?", Mike asked, leaning next to her head from the back.

She looked up at him, lifting an eyebrow. "A fennec fox."

A wide grin slowly formed on Mike's face, as he stared at her.

"A what?", Dustin asked.

"A fennec fox."

"Never heard of them", Lucas said, eyebrows furrowed.

"They live in the Sahara, they have large ears, they can live with little water", El listed softly.

Mike kept grinning at her. El was so good at some things, without even realizing it herself. One of those was her obvious skill to memorize a lot of things and fast, which he still was amazed by.

"Isn't it an omnivore?", Calvin asked from the front.

"Yes."

"You said it eats meat!", Lucas exclaimed.

"It does", El told him. "But other things, too. You didn't ask."

Lucas stared at her, before groaning. "Oh, come on..."

Will made the mistake and chuckled at him. Lucas shoved a candy wrapper, which he grabbed from Dustin, inside the boy's shirt from his neckline. Then he watched his friend squirm at the feeling for a few seconds, before his form of revenge got thrown back at him. 

 

The men got tired of the kids enthusiasm and as soon as they exited the car at the camping ground and had had a snack, the pre-teens were ushered to go for a swim.

"The lake's straight down that path", Samuel told Lucas, showing him the way. "Get back in a couple of hours."

"Sure, dad", the boy nodded, making sure his friends all came along.

 

They walked down the path, before Max and Lucas started to argue which one of them was faster and then decided to have a race to the lake, from where they were.

Dustin grinned as Will shook his head, watching how the two ran side by side and out of sight.

"Both are so competitive", Will said.

"Which one of them will win?", Dustin asked him.

Will shrugged.

"I'm betting on Max", Dustin said, gaining an amused glance from his friend.

"Well, I'm betting on Lucas, then", Will grinned.

El reached for Mike's hand, as they walked behind the two boys.

 

When they got to the lake they reached Max and Lucas, both looking disappointed.

"Who won?", Will asked Lucas, as he stopped before the other boy.

"Neither."

"It was basically a tie", Max said with a frown.

"I'm so ready for that swim", Lucas groaned.

"Meet us outside, okay?", Mike told El when they got to the changing rooms, who nodded back at him before letting go of his hand.

 

El and Max changed in silence. Neither of them felt embarrassed about changing in company, which made them feel even easier about it.

"Pink suits you", Max said offhandedly, while fastening her own green top.

"Does it?", El asked.

"Yeah."

"I think you look good in all colors", El said shyly, before lifting her bag on her shoulder.

"Pfft", Max laughed a little, as she too grabbed her bag and they stepped outside to wait for the boys. She then tried to tie her hair up, which looked really hard as strands of hair kept slipping away from her hold.

"Can I?", El asked, getting a shrug from her friend.

"Sure, I guess."

El did two french braids on her hair, as far as it could reach, getting it out of Max's face. It was something she had done for Holly many times, after having found instructions from a magazine. She still needed a mirror to do it for herself, even after having practiced it so many times, and the fact frustrated her.

When she was tying the other braid up, the boys came to them.

"You took long", El said. Mike stared at her, and she offered him a smile when their eyes met. He smiled shyly back.

"Slower than girls", Max nodded, smirking. "What's your excuse?"

"You don't even want to know", Lucas chuckled, shaking his head.

Max looked at him, and then at the rest of the boys. Will and Dustin looked a little embarrassed, while Mike's attention wasn't even on the conversation. 

"Yeah... I'm not sure if I want to", she said, glancing at Will and Dustin again. She then turned around and pulled El with her to the lake, dropping their bags to the sand on their way.

The boys took their stuff to the same place, watching the girls' retreating backs as the two headed to the pier. They caught up to them and soon they all stood at the end of the pier, the sight of bright blue water opening before their eyes.

"Do you think it's cold?", Max asked, looking down.

"You can go find out", Dustin laughed, before pushing the girl into the water. But Max was fast and grabbed his hand, pulling him along.

Lucas and Mike burst out in laughter. El and Will chuckled, while leaning to look down to the water and making sure that no one got hurt.

Dustin swam in his place and was staring at Max, who in turn coughed.

"Come on", Max groaned, before coughing again. "I think I hit my leg on something..."

"Seriously?", Dustin asked as his shock replaced with worry, swimming to her. "Which one?"

"Right one", she muttered while lifting her leg, which Dustin tried to take a look at. When he got close enough, Max splashed water to his face. "Ass", she told him, before happily swimming away.

Dustin glanced at his friends, dumbfounded, before taking another look. "Hey, into the water already!"

Lucas turned to Will. "What do you think, on three?", he asked, and grinned after receiving a nod. 

"Is it deep enough?", El asked the boys, after they had jumped in.

"I didn't touch the bottom", Lucas told her.

She then turned to Mike, who hadn't budged from where he stood beside her. 

"Are you scared of the water, Mike?", she asked him softly.

"No?", he chuckled, scratching his arm awkwardly.

"What's stopping you?"

"I don't know...I'm waiting for you, I guess", Mike shrugged, shyly smiling at her.

"Well", El said, taking a step closer to the edge. "Don't let me wait." 

And with that she dived in, getting up to the surface quite far away.

Mike shook his head before diving in too, swimming the rest of the way to her. "Do you like it?", he asked, his voice playful. "Teasing me?"

El broke into a wide smile, with her white teeth showing. "Yes."

"Why?", he breathed out, chuckling at her straightforward answer.

"Because it makes you happy", she told him, before swimming closer to the shore where their friends had gone to. 

Mike watched her go, feeling confused and happy at the same time, before swimming after her. 

She was right, he knew it. But it was her that made him happy, not precisely the teasing. Still, he liked that, too.

When he got to his friends, Dustin was already filling a beach ball with air.

"It's not windy", Lucas told Mike, "so we might as well throw it around a little."

"Throw it around?", El asked, looking at the ball. "Is it a game?"

"Well, usually we have this rule, that the ball can't touch the water", Will told her.

"But there's six of us now, that's quite easy", Lucas pointed out.

"What if we divide into two teams", Max suggested. "And the team gets a point if they can get...five hits, without the other team touching the ball?" 

"Or it dropping to the water", Lucas added excitedly.

"Uu", Dustin grinned, the ball now ready in his hands. "I like that!"

"You win with ten points, right?", Lucas asked and everyone nodded in agreement.

"What are the teams?", Mike asked.

"I want El!", Max said immediately, draping her arm around El's shoulders.

"I'm with the girls, then", Will grinned, while already moving to them.

"No, come on!", Lucas said.

"This is like the snow fight, all over again", Dustin groaned.

"Girl power!", Max told them. "And Will power!" Then she and Will chuckled at the pun, before explaining it to El and making her smile.

Mike went to the boys, casting a glance at El on his way. 

"Tough thing, man", Dustin said, patting his back.

"It's fine", Mike told him, before tousling his wet hair which tried to stick to his face and neck.

"But, now", Lucas said, gathering his two friends closer. "They can't win again, okay?"

"Come on, it's El", Dustin pointed out the obvious. "She'll win, alright. She's lucky, above all."

"Then, we'll need to stop her", Lucas said, turning to Mike. "Charm her, man."

Mike's eyebrows furrowed. "How?"

"I don't know, use your nerd charm", Lucas shrugged.

"Yeah, apparently it works on her", Dustin nodded.

"Nice", Mike huffed, "really nice."

"Are we starting or what?", Will called, making them turn around.

"Anxious to lose?", Lucas smirked at the boy, who grinned back.

"I can't lose with my team", Will chuckled. El beamed from where she stood by him.

"Yes!", Max cheered. "That's the willpower, right there!", she nudged Will's arm gently while the two laughed.

"Are we starting or what?", Lucas repeated Will's words, beginning to feel restless.

"Yeah, so... Dustin throws the ball into the air", Max sharpened her attention, "and Will and Lucas get to start."

 

Lucas stared at Will, with the ball between them. 

Will had his hands outstretched before him and ready for the game to begin. He then locked his eyes with Lucas' and grinned. 

The boy's wet, brown hair was pushed back from his face and Lucas wasn't sure where to look at. He didn't see this much of Will, normally, and it was quite overwhelming.

When Dustin threw the ball into the air, finally, Lucas didn't even first understand it. 

Will hit the ball, after which it went between the girls before he proudly took the fifth hit. 

"First point!", Max and Will cheered, while El smiled widely at their enthusiasm.

 

They got more points after that, quite easily to the boys team's liking.

 

"Shit", Lucas said, when the opposite team had got their fifth point in a row, turning to Mike. "You take El, and I'll take Will, okay?", he said, before looking at Dustin.

"I'll take Max", the boy nodded immediately.

"Good." 

It was now Max and Mike's turn to start. Will threw the ball to them, which Max hit immediately, and then he backed up - straight to Lucas.

"Sorry", Will said, trying to concentrate back to the game and took a few steps away. 

El got the ball, which Max then hit back to her but Mike got his hand in the between.

"It's fine", Lucas told Will, feeling his face heat up. Then his eyes widened. 

Why _the hell_ was he _blushing?_

Dustin hit the ball then, aiming it at Lucas, but Will jumped and touched it before him. Then Max got it, aiming it at El.

And El was feeling somewhat confident, so she didn't notice how Mike sneaked up behind her. 

When she had her hand raised, ready for the ball, Mike pulled it down and hit the ball himself.

"Mike!", she got out, shocked, her eyes still following the ball.

"I can't let you win every time", he explained with a chuckle, before releasing his hold of her wrist.

Lucas got it, then Dustin. And then Lucas again, as Will was really a lot smaller than him and couldn't stop him.

Mike surged forward, hitting the ball and gaining their first point. He went to cheer with the boys, leaving an amused El behind.

 

A while after, the score was nine to eight and the girls and Will were only one point away from winning.

It was Mike and El in the middle this time, starting the round. 

She looked calm and intimidating as she eyed the ball between them, before looking at Mike. He looked back at her, his eyes calculating for a few seconds before offering her a soft smile. 

El smiled back, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

Max threw the ball. 

And El leaped into the air, shamelessly using Mike's shoulder as a support. She aimed the ball to Will, who guided it to Max. 

"Stop her!", Lucas shouted to Mike.

Mike tried to stand before El, as she kept laughing. The sound tingled in his ears, and warmed him inside.

The ball went back to Will, who almost missed it. Almost.

It was coming to El then, who tried to push Mike back while laughing at his antics.

He tried to hold onto her, he really did. To turn her around and at the same time keep her hands in place, but she got her another hand free and touched the ball. 

Just like that.

"YES!", Max shouted, coming over and pulling El into a hug.

"Not again!", Dustin groaned. 

"You had one job!", Lucas said, taking Mike into a headlock.

"ME?"

"Look at him, all happy and proud", Dustin said, and Mike and Lucas turned to look at their friend, too.

Will grinned at them, before the girls pulled him, too, into the hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Coming up in the next chapter: s'mores and "party" games.
> 
> What could possibly happen?
> 
> (Nothing that kinky, god, what were you thinking!?)


	27. Everyone's trying to get it right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. MERRY X-MAS EVERYONE <3

**Everyone's trying to get it right**

 

Samuel and Calvin had ushered the boys to get some wood for the fire, while letting the girls stay with them. 

When the four boys returned after some time, Samuel had already begun to prepare their foods with El's help. Max sat with Calvin, who played guitar and sang. The current song had just ended and was changing to a slower one. 

"Do you know this one?", Calvin asked while playing.

"Yes", El said before turning to Mike, who blushed immediately. 

Their friends chuckled at the boy's face, while they sat down around the fire pit, too.

"What?", Calvin asked with a smile, briefly glancing away from the guitar.

"Not this one, dad, please", Dustin pleaded, although supporting a wide grin on his face.

"It's a good song", Samuel commented.

"Yeah", Mike nodded, turning crimson. "It is."

Max whispered to Dustin then, for a clearance of the situation, who whispered back to her. She grinned at him, before turning to look at El who was apparently locked in a staring contest with a certain boy.

They sat there, listening to the guitar for a while and calming down after the day. 

 

Lucas begun to start the fire, getting help from Will who wanted to know how it should be done. 

"Just do it like you normally do", Lucas told him, offering the lighter his father had loaned to him. 

"I...", Will begun, before sighing. "I don't know how to do it."

"Oh", his friend got out, before starting to arrange the woods to the pit. "Well, like now, we want it to light up fast. So if we put the woods like this, and some smaller sticks and paper here... Then we'll just put a few logs upright."

Will listened intently, while watching what Lucas did.

"Then", Lucas turned to him with a smile, "just light up the papers between the logs."

"From here?", Will asked, bringing the lighter closer to a paper that was sticking out from the arrangement.

"Yeah", his friend hummed, before taking a hold of his wrist and gently pushing it closer. "Just light it up."

Will complied. They watched the papers burn, before the fire begun to spread to the logs, too. After a few seconds, Lucas pulled their hands back and in the between of them. His thumb brushed over Will's skin, so gently that it send a shiver through the boy, before letting go of his wrist.

 

"You danced to that song", Max grinned at El, who smiled shyly back, as she sat down next to the girl.

"At the snow ball", El said, tucking at her sleeves.

"How come you're both so romantic?", her friend chuckled, nudging El gently.

El glanced at Mike, who was a little further from them with Dustin. 

"Are we?", she asked, turning back to her friend.

"Yeah?", Max looked at her, eyebrows high. "You're like from a movie, or something. Stealing glances of each other, holding hands secretly - stuff like that."

El blushed a little. "We are then, I guess...romantic", she nodded, turning to look at the fire forming before them. 

Max draped an arm around her shoulders. "That's nice... Keep it that way", she said with a chuckle, causing El to hum in soft laughter.

 

They ate hot dogs and chips, the boys hogging them as much as they could. 

And salad, which Mrs. Sinclair had packed for them. Most of the boys, and Max, had done their best to avoid it, but El had ruined it by wondering aloud why none of them took any. While Dustin and Lucas were the loudest ones to complain, Mike simply huffed and loaded his plate. And Max took as little as possible, avoiding tomatoes. 

El glanced at Will, then, who was eating his salad while listening to Dustin and Lucas' complaints. He turned to look at her with a smile, before assuring her that everything was fine. The look on the girl's face had been between surprise and shock, and Will just knew that El thought she had done something wrong.

 

"You have never roasted marshmallows?", Max asked El, while putting a few for them both in sticks.

El shook her head, eyeing the white plumps with interest. There were still so many things she had yet to try out, and she kind of liked it, the excitement of something new.

"Not everyone has", Calvin commented. He knew very well, along the others, why the girl hadn't. 

"They're the best thing I know", Max said, clearly weirded out by the idea of El not even knowing what marshmallows were to begin with.

"Here", Mike said, coming to sit on El's other side. "Taste this, before those are ready."

El looked at him, then at the thing between his fingers. "A biscuit?"

Mike nodded. "There's chocolate, and a roasted marshmallow in the between. Try it. Trust me", he said then, offering it to her.

And she carefully took a bite, bringing her hand to catch the crumbs that fell down. The chocolate from the inside had melted and left a mark on her cheek, which Mike gently wiped away with his free hand.

He stared and waited for her reaction, while she chew with her eyebrows a little furrowed. 

"It's so sweet", she said then, her eyes finding his. "I like it."

"I knew it", Mike smiled widely, before eating the rest himself.

"Those are too sweet", Dustin said, making a face at them.

"S'mores?", Will joined the conversation. "There's chocolate and crackers somewhere?", he asked, already looking around.

"Yeah", Lucas chuckled from where he was getting water, glancing at the two packets before him on the table, "of course."

"I'm so happy", Will declared smiling, from where he still sat before the fire on the ground, making everyone laugh. 

"Here", Lucas said as he dropped down next to him. He had a plate with crackers and chocolate pieces, and was offering it to him. 

"For me?", the boy asked softly.

Lucas glanced at the plate, before turning his amused eyes on his friend. "I was thinking we could share this, you know, as there's more than enough for two."

Will blushed. "I know that", he got out, turning his gaze away.

"Pass me the marshmallows, please", Lucas chuckled a little, eyeing his embarrassed friend.

 

When the girls had settled into their tent, El glanced at her wrist while changing into her pajamas.

After getting in their sleeping bags, the girls shared a look in the dim lit tent. 

"I need to tell you something", El whispered, and Max scooted closer in her sleeping bag.

"What is it?"

"You're my friend... I can't lie to you."

Max's eyes widened a little in surprise, but she waited for her friend to continue.

So, El fell into an explanation, starting with the number tattooed on her skin.

 

Will felt giddy while lying next to Lucas, who had turned over to his side so he could see all the boys in the tent. Lucas' face was quite close to his, hovering almost above him, and Will found himself glancing up quite often. 

That was before he saw the boy bit his lip and he had to turn away, embarrassed. Will couldn't look at him for a few minutes afterwards. Some thoughts, that weren't appropriate between friends, crossed his mind. 

His face was probably redder than Mike's had ever been. 

Then he thought about it. What if he had always felt that way about Lucas? Even on some level?

Will turned to glance at Mike, who was on the other side of the tent and propped up on his elbows. 

Had Mike known that he liked El, like way before?

"Mike?", he asked, before he even decided to do so.

"Yeah?"

"Umm", Will faltered, before clearing his throat. "When did you know you liked El?"

"...I-I don't know."

"Like, was she ever just a friend?", Will asked softly. He felt Lucas' gaze on him, but didn't turn to look at the boy. He would've died of embarrassment, if he had.

"I guess... I liked her almost right away", Mike confessed, his cheeks turning red. It was something he hadn't told his friends, and hadn't even thought they would ask him.

"Really?", Dustin asked.

"On that week?", Lucas questioned. "That's fast."

"I just liked her, alright?", Mike said, as he rubbed his face with a hand.

"Man...last year was bad", Dustin said slowly, "but it must've been worse for you."

Mike didn't say anything, instead he kept looking at the end of his sleeping bag. 

"You must've been ecstatic on the snow ball", Lucas said then, grinning.

"...yeah", Mike nodded, smiling a little at the memory.

"First crush, first date, first kiss - everything", Dustin chuckled. "Ecstatic doesn't quite cover it." 

"It wasn't our first kiss", Mike said, before his eyes widened and he covered his mouth with a hand.

Lucas, Will, and Dustin stared at him, their eyes wide.

"When you asked her to go to the ball?", Lucas guessed.

Mike shook his head, not moving his hand. He'd blurt out something again otherwise, he was sure.

"When?", Will asked, confused. El hadn't told him anything about it, so he had always just assumed.

"Please", Mike got out, slumping down to his back and covering his red face. "I can't talk about it, guys..."

"Why not?", Dustin teased, in a voice that was too suggesting.

"No!", Mike hurried to say, before staying quiet for a while. "Before she left", he muttered then, covering his eyes with an arm.

"What, where?", Lucas asked, confused.

But Mike didn't answer. 

"No", Will said in a small voice. "When she...", he whispered.

They saw Mike nod against his arm.

"Shit...", Dustin muttered, before patting his friend's head.

"Yeah", Mike chuckled a little, before wiping his eyes to his sleeve.

 

"--so the thing about Sweden, it's complete bullshit?", Max asked slowly, gaining a nod from her friend. "You're such a good liar, that even I'm amazed", she chuckled, turning to lay on her back.

"You're not mad, are you?", El asked, worried because of her confession.

"I'm just...wow", Max got out, staring at the tent lamp that hang above them. "Could you show that again? Something you do with your powers?", she asked, turning to her friend.

El had showed her how she could move things, but she hadn't told about the darker side of things.

She didn't want to.

"Can I show you... about my past?", she asked slowly. "I can show you, it's easier for you to understand that way."

"Show me how?", Max looked at her.

"You see it as me", El took her hand, lacing their fingers. "Don't get scared, I'm here. The whole time."

Max nodded slowly, squeezing the hand in hers a little.

And El showed her the laboratory, her room, the water tank, and then bits and pieces of her week in Hawkins' one and a half years ago. Nothing scary, just the way she had grown up. And how she had met the boys.

"You were only here for a week?"

"Yes."

"And in the...upside down then, before coming back in November? The whole time?"

El nodded, eyeing the girl beside her.

"What was it like?", Max whispered softly. "Could you show me a little of that place, too?"

And El did, but didn't show her anything else besides what it looked like in there.

Max looked uncomfortable afterwards. She squeezed the hand laced with hers.

"I'm sorry", she whispered. "What you've had to go trough."

El wasn't sure if the things she had lived and done were that much worse, compared to what her friend had gone trough. She hadn't know about anything better, until running away from the lab. But Max had.

"It's in the past", El said slowly. "It's okay."

The zipper to their tent begun to open and they sat up alarmed, turning to look at the opening. 

But when they saw Will's face, the girls sighed from relief.

"Jesus...", Max huffed.

"Sorry", Will winced, turning to look at El.

"Will", El whispered, "are you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah", the boy nodded, before glancing behind him. "Is there room for us? To hang out for a while?"

Max and El shared a look. "Sure."

 

The boys entered the tent and Mike dropped next to El. He sat as close as he could, their sides brushing together and her warmth offering him silent comfort. 

She looked at him, worried. "You okay?", she whispered.

"Yeah", Mike murmured, looking away from her. 

El tilted her head to lay it on his shoulder, before resting the hand between them on his lap. Mike immediately took a hold of it.

"Do you want to do something, or did you just pop by?", Max asked while looking at Dustin, who sat next to her, but then at the other boys, too.

"We didn't interrupt anything, right?", Will hurried to ask, his eyes wide. "Like any girl talk, stuff like that?"

Max let out a small chuckle. "Girl talk...", she muttered.

"I told her about me", El said softly. "She knows everything, now."

The boys turned to look at Max. 

"You know you can't tell anyone, right?", Will asked her, right away.

"I know", Max sighed. "Where's the trust?"

Will turned his gaze away, not sure what to say. 

"What did you do?", El whispered to Mike, stroking the palm of his hand with a finger. 

Everyone in the tent heard it, but it didn't matter. 

"Talked", Mike said slowly. "I told them about our first kiss", he turned crimson, before quickly adding: "because they asked." 

No one saw it, but he felt how she leaned against him a little more.

"Do you want to, I don't know, play something?", Dustin asked, wanting to cheer his friends up.

"Like what?", Lucas asked while slumping down to lay on his stomach, his legs bend up in the small space.

"Truth or dare, spin the bottle, something like that?", Max asked.

"I don't know, maybe?", Dustin turned to look at her.

"What are they?", El asked.

Mike stared down to his lap, at the way she drew circles to the palm of his hand. It tickled a bit, but felt really nice at the same time. 

"In spin the bottle, you have to kiss who the bottle points at", Max told her, "in truth or dare you choose which one you want, and the others come up with either a question or stuff you need to do."

"Party games, basically", Lucas said, sounding bored.

"There's only two girls in here", Max said then, smirking, "which means that you boys need to kiss each other, too, if we play spin the bottle."

Will, Mike, and Lucas glanced at each other, their brows now slightly furrowed.

Dustin shrugged. "Not that bad."

"What kind of kiss?", El asked, lifting her head up from Mike's shoulder.

"A peck on the lips", Max answered from her side.

El thought about it for a moment, before nodding.

"Are we actually playing it?", Will asked slowly.

"Do we even have a bottle?", Lucas continued.

"Yes", El said. She glanced at the one in the corner, but in the small space she ended up floating the water bottle to Max. "This."

"That's so cool", the other girl whispered, while taking the bottle with a huge grin.

"Yeah...", Lucas nodded. "Still not used to it", he confessed.

"Are we, like seriously, going to play this?", Mike asked, frowning at his friends.

"You know...", Will got out, chewing his lip. "We could play truth or dare?"

"We can play both", Max grinned at him, placing the bottle between them after removing her and El's sleeping bags from the way. "So, who wants to start?"

No one seemed eager to begin.

"Oh, come on", Dustin got out before spinning the bottle, which pointed to Mike once it stopped.

"Seriously?", Mike huffed. El let out a soft giggle, which in turn caused the rest to chuckle.

"Those are the rules", Max said with a grin.

"Just do it, then", Mike groaned, and let Dustin peck his lips lightly. 

"This is going to be the weirdest night of my life", Lucas drawled, causing everyone to laugh even more. 

Mike shook his head and span the bottle, which pointed to Lucas. He turned to give him a slight peck too, before glancing back at grinning El. 

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?", he asked, amused.

"You're uncomfortable", she smiled.

"I'm kissing your girl, Wheeler", Lucas said, moving towards El. 

"...I don't like this game", Mike murmured, but couldn't look away either. 

It was an innocent, brief touch of lips, and over under a second. Lucas stared at El afterwards, before shrugging and backing away. "Not as weird, as I thought it'd be..."

Mike glared at him.

"Spin the bottle, El", Max chuckled, and El complied. It stopped to the girl by her side.

El turned to Max, leaning in to give her a small kiss. It reminded her of the kisses Holly liked to give to her, which she of course hadn't mentioned to Mike. He hadn't really liked the first one, which she had received from his sister, either.

"This is the good part of this game", Dustin got out, before Will swatted his head. "What?"

"Don't", Will warned him.

Max span the bottle with a grin, which pointed back to the other girl. 

"We're the best entertainment", she joked to El, before briefly leaning in.

El span the bottle again, amused of the whole game. Out of all the weird stuff they had played, this was pretty simple. The bottle stopped to Will.

"Oh, this is just awkward", Dustin chuckled, looking between the two.

"Why?", El asked him, already scooting over to her brother.

Will stared at her, his eyebrows raised when she pecked his lips.

"It wasn't weird", El said, after going back to her place.

"It was", Will said slowly. "My first kiss was with my sister", he groaned then.

Dustin, Lucas, and Max laughed at him. Even Mike let out a few chuckles, despite the weird feeling settling inside of him. He didn't like it. 

"I kissed Holly, on New Years", El reminded him, slightly pouting because of his words. "She's like a sister to me."

Max laughed. "Really?", she asked, turning to look at Mike. "Where were you, mate?"

"He was too slow", Dustin grinned, answering for him.

"Hey!", Mike warned his friend.

Will span the bottle and stared at it's movement warily. He wasn't even sure to whom he hoped that it would stop to. But when it slowed down and then stopped completely to Lucas, he swallowed. 

As Will leaned in for a quick peck, trying not to think about it too hard, Lucas too was trying keep himself collected. It was only a fraction of a second, how long their lips touched, but it felt much longer.

After Will had turned away, Lucas found himself nervously licking his lips before he span the bottle and went to give Max a brief peck. 

It wasn't the same, not what it had been with Will. 

And the realization caused a storm inside him.

 

And when Mike finally got El, after kissing the three other boys a few too many times, he sighed with relief. He turned to her eagerly, before he met her eyes and got embarrassed for a few seconds. 

Then he shyly leaned in, El meeting his lips halfway. And he kissed her for a second or two longer, than what the kisses had lasted on the game until them. 

When he pulled back and opened his eyes, his whole face felt like it was on fire. El turned her gaze away from him, smiling shyly, while fiddling with the material of her pajama pants. Mike's stomach flipped at the sight of her. 

"Whoa", Dustin laughed, "I think we should switch to truth or dare, now."

"Yeah", Max nodded, grinning at El and Mike. "Are we going around in circle or with the bottle?"

"Circle is fine", Lucas said, having gone back to laying on his stomach.

"I'm not starting this time, again", Dustin said immediately.

"I can start", Lucas shrugged. "Truth."

"Who did you not mind kissing, just now?", Max chuckled.

"Oh god, you're the devil", Lucas groaned, dropping his face to his hands, thinking. "Well...I didn't actually mind kissing anyone. Except for Mike, because we have known each other for so long. And maybe Dustin", he added then, frowning a little.

"We kissed way too many times, dude...", Dustin agreed.

"Right?", Lucas exclaimed. 

Max grinned. "I approve of your answer."

"Then, me?", Mike asked, gaining nods from his friends. "Truth, I guess?"

"How many times have you guys kissed?", Dustin chuckled.

"What's up with the kissing?", Mike whined.

"We're just curious", Lucas beamed at him innocently.

Mike turned to El, who eyed him with a soft smile on her face. "The first kiss", he sighed softly, as he begun listing with his fingers. "Asking you to the snow ball, the snow ball, the New Year's..." 

Their friends cheered, causing him to blush. 

"The Valentine's Day", El helped him.

"It's Mike's task, not yours!", Lucas reminded her.

"On our date, on my birthday", Mike continued, lifting his fingers up in count. Then he blushed even more. "When we all stayed the night", he got out.

"When you went to her room, in the middle of the night", Lucas nodded grinning, leaning on his hands. "Go on."

Max looked at the pair, her mouth slightly open as she smiled in surprise.

"And just now", Mike ended his list, looking at his hands awkwardly. "Nine times."

"In half a year?", Lucas commented. "That's not much, actually."

"I feel a little disappointed", Dustin said, looking at the two. "You're so lame."

Mike furrowed his eyebrows at the comment, glancing at the girl by his side. The fact of how busy they had been, with school in the spring and with El's tutoring in the summer, finally came to him. 

But El wasn't paying attention to what they said. "Is it my turn?", she asked.

"Yeah", Will smiled at her.

"Dare, then", she said, because neither of the boys had chosen it.

"Are you sure?", Lucas confirmed.

"Yes", she nodded at his doubtful look.

"Just because I'm so disappointed, in you two", Lucas said, looking between El and Mike. "I want you to get a dare, with him."

"Ohh", Max grinned. "Good."

"What is it?", El asked, glancing at Mike. He looked nervous, and she immediately wondered if she should be, too.

"Nothing too bad, I'm still here", Will reminded them, making Lucas laugh and pat his leg. 

"I know, I know!" 

But Lucas didn't remove his hand afterwards, being so concentrated on the game that he didn't realize leaving it there. 

Will, on the other hand... He was dying. At least that was what it felt like. He was so thrilled that it felt bad. His face was burning with the obvious blush, while his stomach felt like he had digested a poison and everything inside of him was slowly melting away. 

"Can't we just, I don't know, make them kiss?", Dustin suggested with a chuckle. "They'd have a full ten."

"Seven minutes in heaven", Max grinned at him, before turning to El and Mike.

"Except that we're in a tent and we don't have a closet", Lucas pointed out.

El glanced at Mike, who looked back at her. His whole being screamed embarrassment. 

She had no idea what 'seven minutes in heaven' meant. Usually she asked these kinds of things from Mike or Will, but as the first looked so embarrassed already she decided to keep quiet. She would probably found out soon, and if not... Well, she could always ask Nancy afterwards.

"They could go outside", Dustin suggested.

Mike wasn't sure if he liked the direction their friends were going. He had no idea what El would think about it, if they got a dare like that. 

"Come on, guys", he muttered, too flustered to look at anyone. "Give her a normal dare."

"You don't want one, like that?", Lucas teased him.

Mike chewed his lip. 

El felt sad, after seeing his worried look. She had no idea what was happening, but apparently it was something that Mike didn't feel comfortable about.

"Let's just get this over with", Will sighed. "El...Sit on his lap."

"For the rest of the game!", Dustin added fast, grinning. 

And Mike wasn't sure if the dare she got was better, than the possibilities before. It was still embarrassing. He moved back anyway, making room for her, and swallowed nervously as he turned to look at the girl. 

El looked at him, blinking. "Sit on your lap?", she confirmed.

"Sit between his legs, it's more comfortable", Max told her, gaining a few long glances from the boys. She rolled her eyes. "Just make room for her, Wheeler."

Mike did. And after a few seconds, he had El sitting between his legs. 

It was awkward. 

It truly was, until she relaxed and crossed her legs, before leaning her head against his other shoulder. He crossed his legs, too, tucking them under hers. 

Lifting his gaze, from where he had been admiring the sight of her pink pajama pants against his blue one's, Mike was greeted with the amused looks on their friends' faces.

"You look really comfy", Lucas beamed. He glanced at El then, who looked back with an innocent smile, before her gaze moved a little. And Lucas followed it, only to find his hand resting on Will's leg. His heart skipped a beat.

"Then, Max", Dustin said, turning to the other girl with a friendly smile. "What would you like?"

"Just a truth, please", Max said.

They thought hard about it. 

El felt like she knew what she wanted, already, and didn't know how to ask about the other stuff. 

Mike, on the other hand, focused on her. He had his hands behind his back and was leaning onto them, while all he wanted was to wrap them around her.

Meanwhile next to him, Lucas was looking up at Will instead, their eyes locked in a confused staring contest. 

Will was blushing, and for some reason Lucas didn't want to pull his hand away. But he did, slowly and gently sliding it down while not breaking their eye contact.

"Why did your family move into Hawkins?", Dustin asked after a long silence.

Max sighed deeply, before turning her gaze on him. "My stepfather went to prison. And it's cheaper to live here than in the city, while you have a mother who drinks all her savings away."

El sent Max a supportive smile, gaining a soft smile back from her.

"Wait, seriously?", Lucas asked, turning to look at the girl. "That's messed up."

"It is", she agreed, before looking at Dustin. "Truth or dare?"

Dustin looked at her for a few seconds, face unreadable. "Truth", he said then, slowly.

"What would your dream date be like?", Mike asked immediately. "You never told me, after mocking me that one time."

"Oh, right", Dustin grinned at him, remembering the occasion. "Umm. I think, that what ever the other would like to do. Eating somewhere of course, because food is good", he said, making everyone chuckle. "But besides that, what the other would want - that's the most important thing."

Max smiled a little, looking at her hands on her lap.

"Good answer", Lucas said, turning to look at Will. 

The blush on the boy's cheeks had eased, but he was fiddling with his hands nervously.

"Truth or dare, Will?", Lucas asked.

Will glanced at him and then the rest, unsure. "Truth."

 _Why don't you want to tell Lucas, that you like him?_ , El asked, and he turned his eyes on her.

 _I don't...I don't want to risk our friendship_ , he told her, as their friends wondered what they should ask him.

_What if you found out, that he likes you, too?_

_That...I don't think that'll happen, El,_ Will offered her a small smile.

"Will?", Mike asked then, gaining everyone's attention. "Do you...like El?", he got out slowly.

"What?", Will turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, what?", Lucas asked, looking at Mike with a slight frown.

"Haven't you seen? How he looks at her sometimes", Mike muttered. "It's hard to miss."

Will glanced at El, worried, before he could stop himself. 

Dustin, Max, and Lucas looked between their three friends, confused.

"It's not like that", El said softly.

"Yeah?", Mike murmured, sitting up better. 

It didn't matter that he came closer to her, which was something that El had been waiting for a while now. It didn't feel right. 

Even the air around him told her that he was upset. And as he didn't touch her, as she felt how tense he had gone, she knew it was her fault.

El felt like she should leave, to get up and simply go. Her stomach knotted, as breathing begun to feel harder. 

She didn't want to cry, and ruin everyone's evening. 

And she didn't want him to be mad at her, either.

"I'm sorry", Will said, startling everyone. He fiddled with the empty water bottle, opening and closing it's cork. "But it's... It's not like that."

"What is it, then?", Mike asked, his voice thick.

"She's my sister, Mike", Will said softly, but with a hint of warning in his voice. "Stop that."

"She's not!", Mike blurted out, before he could stop himself. 

He was also too slow to stop El. She had scrambled up from his lap and rushed out of the tent, before he could even blink.

The open doorway of the tent moved in the gentle wind.

Lucas moved back, from where he had rolled aside from El's way, before he sat up and looked at his friends in worry. 

"Well done", Max spat, before going after her friend.


	28. I'll speak a little louder, I'll even shout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. You really thought I was that horrible, huh? That I would leave a chapter like that, for Christmas? 
> 
> I'm slightly offended, guys. Mah heart, mah soul - they hurt.

**I'll speak a little louder, I'll even shout**

 

El stopped running, when her tears prevented her from seeing clearly. It had been dark before, but now that everything was also blurry... it was suffocating. 

She had no idea what she was doing, or where she was going. Trying to even her breathing by taking deep breaths in the between of her sobs, she screwed her eyes shut. 

"El?"

After the endless talks they'd had, El could recognize her voice anywhere.

"Max", she whispered, at the same time that she was wrapped into an embrace.

"Fucking hell, you scared me", Max breathed out, hugging the girl tight.

El dropped her head down, hiding against her friend's shoulder. 

And then, she cried.

 

"You really messed up, Mike", Dustin said after the boys had left the tent, going after the girls.

"I know", Mike choked. "Just... Help me find her, okay? Please..."

"Max is with her", Will said.

Mike turned to look at him, but the other boy kept his gaze locked on the road before them.

"Will--", he begun.

"Let's just find them", Lucas interrupted him. "We need to make sure, that El's fine." 

 

Max didn't really care what the boys were doing, or if they'd get caught wandering around in the middle of the night. 

So when El asked if they could go to the lake, she had taken her friend's hand and begun guiding them to the right direction. 

Neither of them had their shoes on and both were dressed in their pajamas, but it was fine. 

The gravel under their feet prickled at first, but it stopped hurting soon enough.

Glancing at El, Max laced their fingers from their tightly clasped hold. 

If this was what her friend needed, so be it.

 

Mike tightened his grip of a flashlight, which he had fetched from their tent, but didn't turn it on. His eyes burned and he rubbed them with a back of a hand.

"That was really low, you know", Lucas said. 

Knowing his friend was right, Mike could do nothing else but nod in agreement.

They watched as Dustin and Will walked before them, far enough to not be heard.

"You know", Lucas said suddenly, gaining Mike's attention. "After Christmas, when you and Dustin weren't there, Will and El came to our house."

"Yeah", Mike whispered, having heard about it. 

"Will said that he doesn't care if he's her little brother, by age", the boy continued. "He said, that he'll do the big brother stuff anyway. And I told him, that he should watch out for her...and protect her from you."

Mike stared at the ground as they walked, trying not to let even a single tear escape.

"But I didn't mean it like this", Lucas sighed. "I meant, you know, in other ways..."

"I didn't mean to say that", Mike told him fast, his voice thin and breaking at the end.

"I know", his friend nodded. "But you said it, and now you've got to make it right."

 

"You want to know the truth?", Will asked suddenly. 

The boys had gone to check the campfire, where they had been earlier in the evening, and were now walking towards the lake. It was the only place they could think of.

Mike glanced at his friend. He wasn't sure what the appropriate answer was. The answer, that wouldn't make everyone mad at him.

He wanted to know the truth, of course, but how would he know what that was?

"I can tell you, if you want to", Will continued softly. "It was me, who wanted to keep it a secret. And she allowed me to, so..."

His friends listened intently, as he told them about the mind connection they had practiced. 

Mike felt even worse, than before.

 

"El", Max said, after a long silence between the two of them, gaining her friend's attention. 

"Yes?", El whispered before she threw a rock into the water, breaking the still surface.

The sand still felt a little warm, under their bare feet.

"It helps, doesn't it? Throwing rocks", Max asked.

"Yes." 

But this time, the answer came out as a sob.

El dropped to the sand on her knees, staring at the water before them. Following her friend's lead, Max sat down, too. 

 

The beach at the lake was empty, despite the two small figures by the water.

Mike, along with the three other boys, felt the rush of relief go trough him.

"What are you going to say?", Will asked softly, coming to stand by his side.

"That I...", Mike whispered, stopping to take a deep breath. "That I'm an idiot."

Will patted his back.

"You should add that you're sorry", Dustin commented.

"Dustin...", Lucas warned their friend.

"Just saying", the boy shrugged. "But I'm sure El will appreciate the self-insult, too."

"No, he's right", Mike sighed, turning to look at Will. "To you, too. I'm sorry."

Will eyed him for a while, before smiling a little. "Yeah, me too."

"Now, go", Lucas pushed Mike's back. "We need to get back, before our dads find out we're gone."

"Nah", Dustin said, as Mike was already walking away from them. "My dad will sleep till the morning, even if there was an explosion."

"Don't even talk about explosions near my dad", Lucas muttered.

 

Max glanced behind as she heard someone approaching them. Locking her eyes with Mike's, she sneered at the boy.

"Go back, Wheeler", she suggested.

"Please", Mike got out.

El's shoulders slumped, visibly, after hearing his voice. It hurt him to see it happen.

"El...", he choked, walking around them and dropping to his knees before the girl. 

She refused to look at him, instead moved her gaze from the water to the sand.

"El, I'm sorry", he whispered. Then he saw a tear roll down her cheek, and he knew just how badly he had messed up. He had never meant to hurt her.

Max got up from the ground, shaking her head. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you", she said, before walking towards the boys who had stayed further away from them.

"Please, El", Mike shortened their distance, still on his knees. He didn't care if it looked clumsy, or if he got sand everywhere. "I didn't mean it like that, I promise...", he trailed off, the words sticking to his throat.

"Why did you say it?"

A part of him wanted to sigh from relief, after hearing her voice. The other part wanted to hit himself for being such a mess and blurting out whatever came to his mind. 

"I-I don't know", he muttered. "But I didn't mean it like _that_ \--."

"Like what, Mike?", she asked softly, turning her teary eyes on him.

"I was jealous, okay?", Mike hurried to say. "When I heard that you slept in the same bed, and when you kissed him just now--."

"It was a game", El whispered while staring at him. Her eyes were wet, and wide from confusion. 

"I know", he huffed. "I know, b-but I like you - a lot. And I don't want you to...", he stopped in the middle of his sentence, suddenly looking unsure.

"You don't want me, what?", she asked slowly, her eyebrows furrowed.

Mike sighed, briefly opening his mouth before closing it again.

"Mike...Tell me."

"I don't want you to, you know", he swallowed, staring at her, "...to kiss anyone else."

She stared at him for a few long seconds. "Holly gives me kisses."

"Um... I meant, like others. Like other boys."

"I can kiss girls?", El asked then, confused.

"You can kiss the ones in your family", he got out, not sure what else to say.

She turned her gaze away from him. "It's for family", she said slowly, drawing lines to the sand with a finger.

"I'm sorry", he repeated once again. "I-I know that they're your family, and Will's your brother, it's just..."

"Just?"

"I don't know", Mike sighed. He felt tired, hopeless, and like a total screw-up. 

"Mike... Are you still mad?", El whispered suddenly, startling him. "Am I still your girlfriend?", she added softly.

"Yes", he hurried to say, blushing. "That's... If you'll still have me? As your boyfriend?"

El nodded, eyeing him with worry. 

"I was never mad at you", Mike told her, coming closer. 

His knees bumped against hers, as he clasped her hands gently. 

"I was an idiot, and I'm so, so, sorry", he breathed out. "And Will, he told us everything, about what you both can do."

El's eyes widened, and she clenched his hands a little.

"I apologized to him, too, on our way here", Mike whispered, while eyeing the girl before him. Her eyes were full of tears, and the skin around them was red. It was the clear evidence of what he had done. "But El...", he swallowed a lump from his throat. "D-do you forgive me?"

She immediately raised to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes."

It was only a whisper, but for some reason clearer than any other word they had said until then.

Mike breathed in her scent, mixed with woods and smoke. He closed his eyes and brought her even closer, as he circled his arms around her. 

"I promise", he whispered to her, "that I'll never hurt you, not on purpose."

El smiled against his neck, and feeling it made him smile, too.

 

When the two got back to their friends, Will went to El and hugged her tight. Their friends watched them, startled by the sudden display of affection which they usually didn't show.

 _Don't leave like that_ , he told her, leaning his head against the side of hers.

 _I'm sorry_ , she told him, over and over again, pushing the words to his mind with force. _I'm sorry..._

"Shh", Will hushed her softly, after he heard the ragged breath she took. _It's okay, El. He -- we all know, that you're a part of our family. You're my sister, okay? Jonathan is our big brother, mom is our mom, and Jim is our dad. You know that._

El nodded a few times, after which he pulled slightly away to look at her.

That was when their friends understood it wasn't just a hug, but a conversation, too.

Will glanced at her bare feet then, frowning. "You want my shoes?", he asked, gaining the attention of everyone.

"It's okay", El said softly, looking down as she curled her toes.

"You can have mine", Mike offered, feeling guilty.

"They're too big for her, she would trip", Dustin chuckled, causing Mike to blush and the rest to chuckle.

Will kicked off his shoes, turning them to El. "Just put them on", he told her.

And El stuffed them on, before they slowly begun to make their way back towards their tents.

"Hey...", Lucas begun, turning to Max. "When did you grab your shoes?"

"These aren't mine."

Lucas and Will, who were at the hearing range, frowned at the answer before turning to Dustin.

Their friend kept looking at the road, ignoring their stares and carelessly walking forward without his shoes. 

 

Everyone of the pre-teens felt a little disoriented on the next morning, waking up in their respective places but having flashbacks of the previous night.

They almost forgot having played spin the bottle, too. 

Almost.

El fell asleep in the middle of breakfast, dropping her head on Will's shoulder who sniggered at her. 

He lifted her head up, with a hand under her chin. "You can't be that tired, El..."

"I am", she mumbled with a frown, not opening her eyes and making everyone chuckle.

"Is she like this, every morning?", Dustin laughed, reaching over the table to poke the girl's cheek.

"No", Will said, swatting his friend's hand, before letting El rest her head back down. "She's always the first one up. El usually takes Chewy out in the morning, too."

"You're such a weirdo, El", Max murmured on the girl's other side. "I'm enjoying this morning, you're always so cheery otherwise... Like right away, when you wake up."

Mike had a soft smile on his face. He was secretly hoping that he'd get to wake up with El someday, after sleeping in the same bed trough the whole night. He glanced at the girl, on the opposite side of the table, hoping that he would've been the one to sit next to her. 

He wouldn't have minded letting her sleep.

Will noticed the way Mike's eyes travelled to El, and he was glad that he didn't see the hurt from the previous night in them. They had all patched up, yes, but he at least still felt a little out of place.

El lifted her head up and everyone watched how she slowly rubbed her eyes, before fully opening them. She then took in the bowl of porridge before her, and it didn't take long for her to tug in.

Dustin burst out in laughter, causing everyone else to laugh, too.

"What?", El asked. She looked around, her eyes now fully open and bright.

"You're just, so...", Dustin shook his head, "so chill, I don't even know."

"Five minute nap and she's ready to go", Lucas sniggered.

"I wish your brother was like that", Samuel said, patting his son's head. "It feels like I'm on a dad-vacation, really."

"But you're my dad, too", Lucas glared at his father.

"Baby-dad-vacation", his father corrected himself. "I don't need vacation from you." Samuel ruffled his son's hair, before going to prepare some coffee.

Lucas shared a soft smile with Will afterwards, who had already been looking at him from the other side of the table.

Will knew just how much those words meant to Lucas.

 

They decided to go for a walk that day, to a nearby waterfall. 

The fathers were further down the path already, as the kids trailed behind them and were entertaining themselves.

El walked with Mike, watching with curiosity how Max and Dustin played around before them, and how Will and Lucas walked a bit further, apparently talking.

"Are you still tired?", Mike asked suddenly. "Because, you know, it's my fault. That you didn't sleep well--."

"Mike", El interrupted him softly. "I can sleep later, it's fine", she said before reaching for his hand and lacing their fingers.

It was something that still made him blush. Why? He had no idea. But he loved it. 

Mike offered her a shy smile, to which she answered before stopping to her place. He turned back to look at her, eyebrows high in wonder. 

Pulling at their joined hands, El brought him to stand before her. She then pressed her lips against his, causing Mike to huff against them in surprise. She slowly pulled away, watching him.

"Mike", she whispered, smiling shyly. "I only like kissing you."

Then they continued their walk to the waterfall, fingers tightly laced together and him trailing dazedly along with her.

El kept glancing at Mike, the whole way. 

His cheeks were tinted pink, like they usually were while holding her hand. 

She liked it. She liked pink, too.

 

Lucas glanced at Will, as they walked side by side. 

"Last night...", he begun, before turning his gaze away. He had no idea what he had been about to say.

"It feels like a weird dream now, huh?", Will chuckled softly. "Like everything, that happened."

"Um, I guess", Lucas frowned at the ground. 

Will bit his lip after hearing his friend's voice. It sounded forced and strange to him.

Lucas remembered some things too well, to think of them as mere dreams. Even the thought now made his face warm. 

"It must be nice", Will said suddenly, gaining his friend's attention, "to finally have your dad home. Even if he has to leave, sometimes."

"Yeah", Lucas found himself smiling. "It was worth the wait."

"Of course", Will said softly.

They walked in silence for a while, both of them thinking about different things.

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"I...", Lucas begun, but decided otherwise. "Could I loan something from you?", he asked instead, briefly closing his eyes in frustration.

"Sure, what?", Will asked.

"A...a book", Lucas said then. "The Hobbit."

"Yeah, but don't you have your own?"

"...I lost it, I guess?"

"Well don't lose mine, too", his friend chuckled.

"I won't", Lucas sighed.

Will glanced at him, confused, before turning back to the road. 

 

"You can't just ask me about it", Max huffed, arranging a blade of grass between her thumbs.

"Why not?", Dustin asked. "She's our friend, too. And we still have no idea what happened, after you left. We were really worried, all of us."

Max tried her grass whistle, which still didn't work perfectly. "What do you think happened?", she murmured, while arranging the grass again.

"I don't know", the boy said slowly, as he watched her.

"Think."

Dustin's eyebrows furrowed. "She cried."

"Yeah." 

Getting a confirmation on it didn't make him feel any better. "...Then you went to the lake?"

"Yeah." Max then tried her whistle again, making a weird bird-like sound with it.

Dustin chuckled at it, amused, before turning his gaze away.

"She doesn't need that kind of shit", the girl said then, lowering her hands. 

"I know", the boy said gently, causing her to glance at him.

"I'll kill him, if he hurts her again", Max told him grimly.

"Oh, that's not gonna happen", Dustin chuckled, gaining a confused look from the girl. "He knows, that she can basically snap his neck in a heartbeat."

Max's eyes widened. "What?", she got out.

Dustin met her gaze, and soon the boy's eyes widened in shock.

"She can do what?", Max came closer to him, their arms brushing together.

"She...she didn't tell you?"

"Does it seem like it?", she hissed in a whisper.

"...No", he got out.

Max waited for him to talk, to tell her more, but Dustin wasn't sure if he had the right to speak about the things he knew of. He sighed deeply, after arranging his thoughts.

"Look, she'll tell you about it, no doubt. But it's not even about what she can do... Mike really likes her." Dustin glanced behind, at the pair in question. "He was a mess without her, for the whole year. It hurts him, to hurt her", he finished. 

He felt like he had been overstepping his rights as Mike's friend, but he couldn't help it. 

"Okay", Max said after a while, before throwing the grass away. "Thanks."

"For what?", Dustin asked, confused.

The girl shrugged. "Just because." 

 

The waterfall poured down right before their eyes, making quite a heavy sound while rumbling against rocks.

Mike felt El squeeze his hand, and he turned to her. She looked at the scenery before them with wide eyes, clearly fascinated by it. 

He made a silent promise to himself, at that moment, that El would see a lot of beautiful places. No matter how far they were, or how little money they had, he would somehow take her.

A pair of hands grabbed Mike's head then, and turned it back to the waterfall. Dustin came to stand by him, soon, looking as innocent as ever.

"What a scene, right?", the boy smirked at him.

"Yeah", Mike grinned shyly.

 

After almost everyone sweated on their walk, they went for a swim.

Mike had already got out of the lake, having gone to drink some water. But there he stood, already wrapped in his towel and looking at his friends, who were having a water fight. 

Then he watched El who spoke with Max, before the two hugged and El begun to swim to the shore. Meanwhile Max joined the boys and dumped handfuls of, what Mike guessed was, sand on Dustin's head.

He watched with curiosity, as El neared him. 

"I'm cold", she said while searching for her towel, before draping it around her. She turned to watch the water, too, but kept shivering.

"Still cold?", he asked. He studied her legs, which trembled a little.

El nodded, glancing at him over her shoulder.

Mike bit his lip before coming closer and hugging her from behind, draping his towel to cover her, too. "Does this help?", he asked, blushing.

"Yes", she whispered, before turning around in his arms and resting her head against his shoulder.

The fact that it was El, although covered with a towel, leaning against his bare chest... It got Mike air-headed. Blushing brightly he looked down, at the girl snuggled against him. He wrapped his towel better around them, before turning to look at the lake with a shy smile.

"This is nice", El said then, lifting her head up to look at him. "You're warm."

Mike couldn't look at her, even though he felt her gaze on him. 

"Your face is red", she said, and he could hear the smile on her face. She was teasing him again.

"It's your fault", he chuckled, still not daring to look at the girl.

"Why?"

He looked down at her, after she let out a small laugh. "You think this is funny?", Mike asked, amused.

"Maybe", El said, staring at him with a small smile on her lips.

He shook his head while moving his hands to her waist, fingers brushing the towel. "I'll show you, what's funny", he said, before tickling her.

El squirmed in his arms, turning around and trying to escape. "No", she got out between her giggles, leaning her back against him and trying to pry his hands off.

"This is funny", Mike laughed, "me blushing isn't." But he stopped and draped his towel better around them, which had begun to slide down. 

He listened how she breathed hard while trying to even her breath, letting out a few soft giggles every now and then. 

"I dropped my towel", El said after a while, "to the sand."

Mike blushed even harder, just then realizing that yes, in fact she had. "I-it's fine." 

When their friends started to come out of the water, Mike let her have his towel and took the one on the sand himself. 

 

They drove back home, on the next morning.

El and Max had stayed up almost the whole night, simply talking, and were both quite exhausted. When the girls settled into the back of the car, Mike gladly took the free seat next to El.

Max kept asking him questions, about El. She wanted to find something he didn't know, which she in turn would. The three boys, on the row before them, kept laughing at how hard Max tried.

"Pink. Like that light pink, right?", Mike looked at El, after being asked about her favorite color. 

El nodded, smiling a little.

"Okay, easy one I see... Favorite food?", Max asked.

"That's even easier, eggos."

"Dessert?"

Mike glanced at El with a grin, while she was eyeing her nails and picking at the dirt under them. But he saw the shy smile on her face. "Triple chocolate ice cream. Or brownies."

Max rolled her eyes. "Favorite song?"

"Um...", Mike said slowly. "What it's right now, or all time favorite?"

"Right now", Max pressed.

"Oh, I know this one!", Will cheered from the front, turning to look at them.

Mike frowned at him.

"She sings it all the time", Will helped. "And hums."

"OH!", Mike grinned. " _Africa!_ Is it?", he asked El.

She was blushing, her cheeks tinted pink. "I don't sing it."

"You do", came from all the boys, and also from Max.

El fiddled with the hem of her shirt, when they continued the game.

"What's she scared of?"

"The thunder."

"Really?", Max asked, and El nodded. "I thought it would be something completely different", the girl said, before moving on. "Favorite drink?"

Mike thought about it for a while, before turning to look at El, then Max, and then at the boys.

"I don't actually know this one, either", Max said slowly, in deep thought.

Will stared at El, thinking hard.

"No talking trough mind allowed", Max said immediately, after glancing at him. She had been informed of their ability by Will himself, while Mike and El had been talking at the beach.

"I wasn't!", Will huffed. "But she drinks different things, every time."

"Coke?", Dustin guessed and El shook her head. "Sodas in general?", he tried again, failing.

"Juice?", Lucas tried, making her shook her head again.

"Hot chocolate?", Will tried.

"Milkshake?", Mike looked confused.

"Water?", Max asked then, looking quite sure of herself.

"No", El said, a surprised smile playing on her face. "Tea."

"Tea", Mike said slowly, before covering his face. "I should've known that!", he groaned.

"How?", Dustin asked, amused. "I have never seen her drink tea. Like, never."

"Ever", Lucas nodded.

"Yeah, never ever", Max agreed.

"She drinks tea with my mom, every afternoon, while Holly has a snack", Mike explained. El offered him a smile that made him feel giddy, and he returned it shyly.

"Then, moving on", Max said, thinking for a few seconds. "Oh! When is her birthday?"

"Eleventh of July", the boys chorused.

"...on Tuesday?", Max asked slowly, turning to look at El. "I didn't know... crap. I still need to find you something cool."

"You don't need to", El hurried to say, although feeling quite happy. 

"I want to", her friend said, before grinning. "Besides, I think I already know what I'm getting you."

 

They stopped for lunch and everyone got burgers and fries, after Dustin had been talking about them for an hour, non-stop, in the car.

Not thinking about it, El reached for Mike's milkshake without even asking him. Apparently, that was something the boys on the other side of the table couldn't handle.

"What?", Max asked, looking at the chuckling boys, then at Mike and El. "Guys, stop being cute and eat. The boys here can't concentrate."

El put down the glass, raising her eyebrows. 

Mike looked at El, then at his friends. "What is it?"

Lucas shook his head, taking a sip of his coke.

"You're quite comfortable", Dustin said, shrugging with a grin on his face. "It's cute."

El turned to Mike. "People don't do that?", she asked him in a low voice, concern visible on her face.

"They do", he told her, blushing a little under her intensive stare. "Don't worry about it, they just don't get it", he glanced at his friends, who were suddenly very interested about their foods.

"You tell 'em!", Max laughed, grinning at Mike.

Mike grinned back, eyes soon darting back to El. 

She kept smiling, while eating her fries one at a time.

 

El fell asleep immediately, when they got back into the car. Max went to lean against the window again, closing her eyes, but El leaned against Mike's side. And Mike felt like the happiest boy alive. 

He watched her closed eyelids for a while, her eyelashes too, but the angle was too hard for his neck. After turning his head to face the front in defeat, he felt El's hand twitch on his lap. He turned his gaze on it, and soon saw it do it again. It didn't take long for him to take a hold of it.

 

When both Will and Dustin had fell asleep, Lucas turned to look at the back row. The girls were asleep, too, but he locked his eyes with Mike's. 

Lucas grinned at his friend, who looked both embarrassed and happy. He had caught Mike drawing circles on El's hand, which she rested on the boy's lap.

He turned back and immediately looked at Will leaning against Dustin, who in turn leaned against the door. 

Lucas settled himself against the door on his side. He was almost asleep, when he felt Will move. After blinking a few times, he focused on the boy next to him, who had a slight frown on his face. 

Will's head begun dropping and Lucas watched it for a while, smirking to himself. He then glanced at his father, before deciding that it didn't really matter what he would think. Lucas gently pulled Will to lean against him, who gladly settled his head to the offered shoulder.

 

Max hugged El before getting out of the car, Dustin having got up to make room for her to move. When the girl passed him she patted his shoulder with a smirk, before going to fetch her things. 

When it was time for El and Will to get off, she wasn't sure if she wanted to. 

Looking up to Mike, she smiled softly. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah", Mike cleared his throat, fiddling with his hands.

El patted both Lucas' and Dustin's heads, before moving from the back seat to stand next to Will. Mike moved to the middle row with the boys, at the same time.

"Thank you", El said with a small smile on her face. "I liked it, camping."

"Good", Dustin grinned, while Lucas and Mike both smiled at her.

"Thank you, mr Sinclair, mr Henderson", Will said then, looking to the front seat.

"Thank you", El repeated shyly.

"No problem", Samuel chuckled, smiling at the two. "It was nice having you with us."

"It was", Calvin nodded, before waving the two goodbye.

Mike watched El and Will walk to their house together. 

Right after that, when they drove off from the yard, the teasing begun.

"What are you doing tomorrow?", Dustin asked, shoving him lightly.

Lucas made kissing noises, before he sniggered. "I bet it's something fun, right?"

"Shut up", Mike said, embarrassed. "We're just going to the movies."

"Which one?", Dustin grinned.

"I don't know", Mike told them. "We haven't decided yet."

"Something romantic, then", Lucas smirked. "If you don't know, the lady's picking it."

"She likes the same kind of movies that I do", Mike told him, lifting his eyebrows. "And even Star Wars has its romance."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing", Lucas wiggled his eyebrows. "In the dark, watching a romantic movie..."

"Shut up", Mike swatted him over Dustin, who sat in the middle.

Samuel laughed from behind the wheel. "Get yourself someone you can take to the movies, and stop pestering others, Lucas."

"Dad!", Lucas groaned. It was Dustin and Mike's turn to laugh at him.

 

Mike picked up El on the next day, and she gladly took her place behind him on the bike. 

"Do you have a movie in mind?", he asked, as they neared the town center.

She came to rest her chin on his shoulder. " _Back to the Future?_ "

"I was thinking about the same one!", Mike said, laughing a little.

"Good", El smiled, listening to his laughter. 

"Oh, and I'm paying the tickets, the popcorn, and stuff", he said. "Well, my mom is. It's like a gift for you, for watching Holly so much."

"She doesn't need to", El told him. "She gives me money, when I help her. It's enough. And I like being with Holly", she added softly.

"Mom gives you money?", Mike asked, his eyebrows high.

"Yes", El said, looking at him from where she rested her chin on his shoulder. "It's enough."

"Well, apparently she doesn't see it that way", he chuckled.

 

They were quite lucky with their timing, as they didn't need to wait more than half an hour for the movie to begin.

Mike held their popcorn, while their shared coke was placed into a holder between them. El had wanted to try some new sweets, like every time a package or a wrapper caught her attention. 

She opened a small bag, glancing first inside of it and then at Mike.

"Taste them", he grinned. It said 'sour' on the bag and he couldn't wait to see her reaction.

El put one in her mouth, eyes almost immediately widening. She turned to look at Mike, chewing on the sweet, while she tried to understand the taste and the tingling on her tongue.

"Is it good?", Mike asked, trying not to laugh but failing miserably.

"It's...weird", she told him. "Why are you laughing?"

"I'm sorry", he chuckled, resting his head back for a few seconds. "Your reaction, it was so funny."

"You should have one", El said, already fishing another sweet out of the bag. "It's blue", she smiled while offering the candy before his face. Mike opened his mouth and she put it in, waiting for his reaction to the taste.

"Eww...It's sour, alright", he said after a few seconds, grimacing. But El's laugh made his expression soften into a grin.

She came to lean onto the armrest between them, before carefully choosing another candy. 

"Can I have another one?", Mike asked, as he watched her. He had no idea why he even wanted another.

"Yes", El let out a giggle, and he couldn't help but smile at her happy expression. "Do you think the color matters?", she asked then.

"To the taste?", he questioned, gaining a nod. "I don't know, maybe."

She offered him a pink one then, and he let her put it in his mouth again. Mike chewed it, making a silly face at El who hadn't turned her gaze away from him. The soft laughter she let out was definitely worth the slight goofiness from him.

"Does it taste pink?", El asked him, curious of his answer.

"What does pink taste like?", he chuckled.

"Good."

"I think this is some kind of berry."

"So, good?", El questioned, lifting her eyebrows.

"Yeah, good."

"I want one, too."

As she turned back to the bag of sweets, Mike grinned so widely that he was afraid his cheeks would start to hurt. 

 

After beginning her new life, El had learned a lot of things about the world before so unknown. But there were a lot of things, still, which she couldn't understand.

For example she didn't get, even though she had read a lot about it, why her heartbeat sped while Mike was around? Or why her head went all blurry? She knew, that it meant she liked him, but why did it happen? And why did people like other people, like that? 

Just...why?

Because when she watched a movie, she didn't always understand everything. And she liked to turn to Mike in those situations, no matter who else was there, because he was the best at explaining things to her. Also, he didn't mind doing so.

But she hated that she couldn't sometimes understand anything he said, while he whispered to her ear. Her drumming heartbeat, and the blurry thing going on in her head, made it too difficult for her to concentrate on his words. And she liked his words, a lot.

 

After the movie, they took the bike and went to the railroad. It was something they had done with all of them, a few times, but it was their first time there with just the two of them.

El took Mike's hand, lacing their fingers as they walked along the rail, after leaving the bike behind. 

"I like this", she told him, squeezing his hand.

"Yeah", he got out, clearing his throat. "I like it, too."

"Does it do the same thing, to you?", El looked at him, slightly furrowing her eyebrows. "Makes your mind...", scrunching up her nose, she thought of a right word for a few seconds, "cloudy?"

"Umm", Mike blushed. "I-I think... I mean, yeah...it does", he swallowed, looking at the rails.

"Makes your heart beat? Hard?"

He nodded, blushing even harder.

"Hmm..", El hummed softly.

He lifted his gaze, shyly, to look at her. "Does it bother you?"

"I don't understand it", she told him softly. "But I don't want it to stop."

"It makes me nervous", Mike confessed then blushed at the speed, in which the words had come out of his mouth. "You make me, I guess."

"Why?"

"I-I don't know... I guess I like you that much."

"I like you, too", she glanced at him with a smile. "But I'm not nervous."

"At all?", Mike asked. 

He wasn't sure if it meant, that she just didn't have the same feelings as him or was he simply the freakishly nervous one. They hadn't really talked about how they felt about each other, and to him it was something he wasn't sure how to put into words. 

Yes, she had admitted that she liked him, as had he. But was it the kind of like, that he felt for her? 

He didn't know.

When she didn't answer right away, he let her search for words in peace, slowly stroking her knuckles and the soft skin there with the tips of his fingers. He could spend the rest of his life holding her hand, he was sure of it. 

She suddenly moved her fingers against his skin, sending a shiver trough his whole body.

"When you're close, I can't think", El told him slowly, causing him to blush. "I have to think really hard, so I can say what I mean to."

"Why?", Mike asked shyly. Well, he had an idea of why, but hearing it from her was another thing. 

"I know what I want to say", she said slowly, "but when you are here, my...my head feels weird. I forget, what I thought about."

"How?", he blurted out, glancing at her. "How do I...do that?"

El looked at him, eyebrows furrowed. "You don't know?"

"No", he said, "I don't do it on purpose", he added in a small voice, turning red.

"Your voice, and how you speak."

Mike bit his lip, turning his eyes away. 

"What you smell of", El continued. "And your eyes. I like them", she added, sending both warmth and embarrassment into him.

He felt like he couldn't breath, he was so excited of the turn of their conversation. Mike just couldn't understand how it was him, out with this girl and holding hands, getting a compliment after another. 

He didn't even understand that he had stopped walking, before El came to stand before him with her worry filled eyes.

"Did I say something wrong?", she asked.

Mike shook his head, swallowing hard.

"Are you sure?", El looked sad and he couldn't, he just couldn't.

He wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. 

She hugged him back, arm around his middle and her chin resting on his shoulder. 

His face felt like it was on fire.

"Mike?"

He cleared his throat a little. "I swear, you're killing me", he mumbled.

El immediately tried to pull away, to see him, but he didn't let her. She send him the confusion she felt, trough their minds. She was afraid that she had done something wrong. Unfortunately she had no way to know, what he felt like.

"I mean", he got out, taking a shaky breath before tightening his hold a little, "that I'm embarrassed."

She stroked his back with her hand, slowly, and he closed his eyes at the feeling.

"I like you, a lot", Mike continued, swallowing hard, "so when you say those things, a-about me...it's embarrassing."

"It's the truth", El told him. He could hear the smile in her voice.

"And you're like, really beautiful, in every way...and I'm, like, me", he blurted out. "I-I just can't understand it."

"What?"

"Anything", he was afraid that his voice would tremble. "I'm just me. And you're...amazing", he told her softly. 

"You are amazing", El whispered to him, burrowing her face against his neck. "And I like you."

"I like you, too", Mike whispered back, tilting his head to rest it against hers. 

He felt hot. 

Yes, it was summer and a warm day, but not hot. And at the moment, his whole body felt like it was on fire. 

But he wasn't the only one. 

El's face was bright pink, too, although hidden from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Over 5,000 hits! Thank you for the comments and kudos, too!
> 
> Merry Christmas to you all. <3
> 
> And if you don't celebrate xmas, then simply happy weekend. <3


	29. The problem is all inside your head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I've been asked about Will/Lucas scenes and the lack of them, so hopefully this makes it up even a little bit (it probably won't, sorry... But I'm getting to them, too, slowly!)
> 
> IF you, for some reason, don't care about Wicas/Lull/Byclair, you can skip this chapter as it doesn't affect the rest of the plot - much, at least.

**The problem is all inside your head**

 

"I have to get home", Dustin sighed, putting down the Atari controller. "Mom invited some people over, and it seems like I _have to_ be there, too."

"Tough thing, man", Lucas frowned, getting up from the floor to walk his friend to the door. After the boy had left, he went back to the living room and eyed the accidentally napping Will on the couch.

The boy's backpack laid on the floor open, The Hobbit peeking from inside.

Lucas eyed it for a while, before remembering how he had nervously rambled on something about losing his copy and wanting to loan Will's. He rubbed his face in frustration.

El and Mike were on their little date. They had been since the noon, and Will and Dustin had came over around the same time. But Lucas hadn't known that it could end up like this. 

With just him and Will.

His parents had gone for their daily afternoon walk with his baby brother, who had just recently got the name Isaac, and would still be gone for an hour at least.

So, there was Lucas, wondering what the hell he was supposed to do.

 

He had woke up that morning, and the reality of the camping trip had finally hit him. 

And it had hit him hard.

It had been like a sudden slap across his face, or if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on him. Both had the same startling kind of an effect, before leaving you confused. 

Lucas had literally listened to the birds sing outside his open window, for full five seconds, before his eyes had widened in shock.

He had kissed Will.

Yes, it had been a game, but still. He had kissed _Will._

More than once, actually, but the first kiss was the one that mattered the most. It had caused a chain of reactions, inside him, like someone had turned on a complicated machine. 

Which apparently worked rather slowly, as the emotions had taken more than a day to begun swirling inside him, and were now working in determination to make him insane. 

He hadn't been able to find the off-switch, either. 

Lucas had been wondering about it for the whole day, the thought coming back to him again and again. Every time that he so much as glanced at Will.

Where the _heck_ was the off-switch? 

Because it was Will. His friend, who he had got to know around the same time that Dustin had moved into Hawkins, but who was just as close to him as Mike and Dustin were. 

His friend.

And, at the moment, he was a nervous, blushing wreck of a boy. 

Because of his friend. 

Because of Will.

 

Lucas neared the couch, before crouching in front of it. Will looked so peaceful while he slept, curled up like a cat with one slender arm hanging down from the edge of the couch. 

Biting his lip, Lucas took a hold of that hand gently. He couldn't help himself. His heart thrummed in a thrilling rhythm after touching the soft and warm skin, and he was immediately about to let go. 

But Will wrapped his fingers around his, before Lucas could do anything, the boy squeezing gently and sighing contently in his sleep.

No matter how much his legs hurt because of the crouched position he was in, Lucas didn't get up or let go of the hand he was holding. 

But his cheeks burned from the blush that had creeped on them.

 

"Hm-h..", Will brought a hand to rub his eyes, before slowly opening them. He blinked a few times, before focusing on the face before him. 

Lucas cleared his throat, before offering him a small smile. "Slept well?"

"Yeah...", the boy said slowly, looking at his friend in wonder. "How long did I sleep?", he murmured then, glancing around the room. "Where's Dustin?"

"Ah, he...he had to go home", Lucas said, his eyebrows briefly furrowing. "But I don't know... You slept for thirty minutes, maybe more."

Will stretched his legs a little. "I still feel tired", he admitted with a soft sigh.

"You didn't sleep well last night?"

"Yeah", Will nodded, starting to get up from where he laid on his stomach. That was when he noticed their clasped hands, as he slightly tugged at them. His eyes widened in realization, and he was about to apologize but his friend was faster.

"S-sorry", Lucas mumbled, immediately letting go. "I--, You... You took a hold of it, when you, I mean, when I came to wake you up", he stuttered, his face blazing hot.

Will blushed, too, casting his eyes away. "Sorry, um... You could've, you know, just pulled away..."

"It's fine", his friend hurried to say, chuckling nervously. "I mean, no harm, right?"

Nodding, Will fiddled with his hands. They were sweaty, and he wondered how long he had hold on to Lucas' hand. Even the thought was embarrassing. He shyly turned his gaze on the other boy, who was now slowly standing up from his crouched position.

"Um", Lucas begun, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I was going to make a sandwich, or something... You want one, too?"

"Ah, yeah, sure."

 

Will leaned to the counter next to him, after Lucas had offered to make the sandwiches for the both of them. Doing something like that, even buttering a bread, was a good distraction from the mess that he was inside.

"I don't like pickles", Will gently pointed out, as his friend was opening a jar.

"I know", Lucas nodded, putting a few for himself. "You don't like mayonnaise, either." He heard a soft chuckle in response, which immediately made him grin. "How can someone not like mayonnaise?"

"I don't know", Will shrugged, before his eyebrows knit together. "Maybe I've had a stomach bug or something, after eating some. It makes me nauseous... Sometimes even thinking about it is enough."

"Oh, ew", Lucas wrinkled his nose. "I have the same thing with fish sticks."

Laughter filled the kitchen. "No, really?" 

"It's true", he chuckled, glancing at the other boy. "I ate some, and threw up an hour later. It was bad."

"When was that?", Will asked curiously.

"On third grade", Lucas glanced at him, finishing their sandwiches with leafs of salad.

"That's so long ago..."

"I know, right? But still, can't even look at them the same way than before."

 

They sat at the table in the kitchen, and had just finished eating when Lucas' parents returned.

"Hi sweeties", his mother said, as she entered the kitchen, carrying Isaac.

"Hey, mom."

"Hi, Mrs Sinclair", Will greeted.

"I'm still Pearl to you, Will", Pearl reminded him gently.

"Oh", the boy smiled shyly. "Okay." 

Isaac begun fussing soon after, and Lucas decided to collect their dishes.

"Just leave them in the sink", his mother told him, while leaving the room.

"It's dad's turn to do the dishes", Lucas sniggered to Will, while they made their way upstairs and to his room.

"Is your mom piling them for me, again?", his father called after him.

"Yes!", he shouted back, before closing his door and turning to his friend, grinning. "Mom does that, when dad has done something wrong."

"Okay", Will chuckled, eyeing him with amusement. "So... What do you want to do?"

Lucas clapped his hands together awkwardly. "I have the new number of X-Men?", he suggested, suddenly out of ideas. But Will grinned widely at him, and he wondered what he had been so nervous about.

 

They laid on their stomachs on Lucas' bed, reading the comic book simultaneously. 

Lucas waited for another small nod from his friend, as a mark to turn the page, but it never came. 

"Will?", he questioned, turning to the boy by his side.

Will stared at the comic before them, his eyebrows furrowed. A gentle nudge to his shoulder woke him from his daze. "Huh?"

"...We don't need to read this now", Lucas told him.

"No, it's fine--."

"You're not even reading it", his friend lifted his eyebrows, before closing the comic and dropping it to the floor from the bed. "Just, you know... Talk to me."

"About what?", Will asked in a small voice.

"About anything", Lucas huffed, "like, what's wrong, or what you're thinking of."

"I...", his friend begun, now staring at the bed spread under them. Then he sighed. "It's El."

Lucas turned his gaze away, too. "Yeah? What about her?", he asked gently.

"...And Mike", Will continued.

Immediately, Lucas' eyes widened and he slowly turned back. "What about El and Mike?", he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"What he said, about her not being my sister."

"But, he's wrong about that?" It was more of a guiding question, than anything else.

"Well, yeah", Will nodded. "But at the same time, no. It's hard to explain", he said, turning to look at his friend. "Do you know what I mean?"

And if he was completely honest, Lucas had no idea. "Um, I guess?", he said nevertheless.

Will eyed him for a while, before offering him a small grin. "It sounded weird, didn't it?"

Lucas let out a small chuckle, a nervous one. "It did", he admitted.

"But, what I mean is", Will begun slowly, "that it's more than that. Like, she's not _just_ my sister."

Again, Lucas was filled with the bad feeling. The same kind, than when Mike had confronted Will about possibly liking El. 

He hated it. 

"It's different than with Jonathan", Will continued. "He has always been my brother, but I don't think I know him, like I know her... You know, with what we can do. I _know_ her. What her mind is like. I don't feel it, I--... I hear her, not just her thoughts, but everything. Her feelings, and emotions, too."

"Yeah?", Lucas asked, his voice low.

"I owe her my life, Lucas", the boy pointed out then, his voice gentle. "And she knows what I went trough."

"So do we", Lucas spoke up, feeling the need to say it out loud. 

"You know, but you can't understand it", Will told him.

"I want to." Lucas' words didn't hide anything behind them. They were completely truthful, and hearing them brought a small smile to Will's face. 

"I wish I could show you, the way she can." 

"Would you?", Lucas asked slowly. "If you could, would you?"

Will watched him for a while, before slowly nodding. "Yeah. I would."

"That's what matters", his friend whispered, dark eyes locked with his.

"Good."

"Now, what do you think. Atari or comics?"

"...I actually wanted to read that number", Will got out shyly.

Lucas chuckled, reaching for the comic book. "I knew it."

 

On Monday, the boys met at Dustin's house to finish El's present.

"I have this", Lucas showed them a tape, before putting it inside the box.

"And...", Dustin chuckled, bringing a plastic bag from one of his drawers to where his friends sat on the floor. "Here's the rest."

Mike couldn't help but laugh, when they begun pouring the insides into the small box. "She'll love this."

"Good", Will grinned from his other side, finishing their card for her. Lucas leaned in, to watch what his friend drew to the cover.

Lucas couldn't help the chuckle. "Are you trying to give us away?", he asked, amused.

"No!", Will insisted. "These are the things she likes. See? Fruits and some berries, waffles and there's eggos, too, ice cream, french fries, milkshake..."

"Okay, okay", Lucas lifted his hands up. "I get it."

"It looks nice, Will", Mike said, smiling after glancing at the card cover. 

"Oh, by the way, Mike", Dustin begun, after checking that everything was inside the box, gaining everyone's attention. "How did your date go?"

Three sets of eyes were on Mike, who immediately blushed bright red.

"Ohh", Lucas chuckled. "I was right, wasn't I?"

"Right about what?", Will asked, curious.

"That their date would involve a lot of...", the boy begun excitedly, until he locked his eyes with Will's and suddenly got embarrassed. "...kissing."

Lucas had to tear his eyes away from Will's, after he saw the boy's cheeks turn bright pink.

"What movie did you see?", Dustin asked.

_"Back to the future"_ , Mike murmured.

"That's not romantic. Isn't it sci-fi, or something?"

"I know", Mike huffed. "It was, well, a bit weird...", he trailed off.

"Was it 'you should see it' weird, or 'weird' weird?", Lucas asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It was 'how do I explain El why this guy's mother tries to hit on him' weird."

"What?", Dustin got out, before making a face. 

"Oh, ew", Will scrunched up his nose.

"...Are you sure you were allowed to watch that?", Lucas asked slowly.

"Yes!", Mike groaned. "And it wasn't like that. He had travelled back in time, to get his parents to hook up with each other, but his mother... Ew, never mind", the boy brushed it off.

"But you kissed, didn't you?", Dustin asked, once again grinning at him.

"It's not even about that, kissing, alright?", Mike bit his lip, turning his gaze away. "Um, she... She told me how she feels, I guess. It was...nice."

"About you?"

"...Yeah."

"Dude", Dustin slapped his back happily. "That's more than nice."

Will grinned, too. "You're okay, right?", he asked then, voice gentle.

Mike turned to look at him, before shyly nodding. "Yeah. We're okay."

Lucas glanced at Will, noticing the obvious satisfied look on the boy's face. Then he turned to Mike with a teasing smirk. "Will's on his protective brother -mode."

"You don't need to be", Mike hurried to tell his friend. "I-I know I messed up, then, but--."

"Mike", Will interrupted him, shaking his head a little. "It's fine, now. Just... Don't do it again."

"I won't."

"Can I just point out, that we should finish this wrapping thing", Dustin said with a grin. "El said, that she would come here after meeting Max."

"What time?", Lucas asked, while reaching for the wrapping paper.

"Seven."

"And you're telling us now?", Mike asked, horrified, after glancing at his clock. "We have three minutes!"

Then they heard the doorbell, and all of their eyes widened.

Dustin scrambled up from the floor. "I'm going to keep her company!", he said, already rushing to the door and out of the room.

Mike got up, too. "Come down when you're done, okay?", he told them, but didn't wait for a reply.

Lucas turned to Will, eyes wide and the roll of wrapping paper in his other hand. 

"If you do that, and I'll put the tapes?", Will suggested, and after seeing his friend's face he chuckled. "It's a small box, we can do this."

"Okay", Lucas shook his head slowly. "I have never done this before, but if you say so..."

Will's laughter made his stomach flip.

 

"Where are Will and Lucas?", El asked, as Mike and Dustin led her to the living room, greeting both Mr and Mrs Henderson on their way who retreated to the kitchen afterwards.

"They're upstairs", Dustin answered offhandedly.

"Why?"

"I don't know--."

"They're trying to find a comic", Mike told her.

Slowly, El nodded. If she wasn't something, it was stupid. She knew something was going on.

"Um, what did you do, with Max?", Dustin asked, after they had sat down. 

The girl shrugged, offering him a small smile. "We walked."

"Yeah?"

"And talked."

"Talked, huh?"

"Yes", El tried to fight back a grin due to Dustin's eagerness, and turned to look at Mike instead. "What did you do?"

"Y-you know, nothing really", the boy answered nervously, turning his gaze away from her as he spoke. "Read comics, played a board game, stuff like that..."

"Sounds like fun", El beamed at him. 

"Yeah, it was", Mike nodded, before his eyes found hers again. "Um, El...At what time should we come over, tomorrow?"

"Early."

Mike chuckled. "What's early?"

"You sleep until noon", El pointed out slowly, glancing at Dustin, too. "Early for you."

"Oh, okay, sure--."

A thud from the stairs interrupted their conversation, which was, after a while, followed by laughter.

 

"Look at this!", Lucas twirled the package in his hands proudly.

"It's quite pretty", Will grinned, before stopping the movement with a hand and slipped the finished birthday card under the ribbon, which they had tied around the box.

"Now, let's go and save El from them", Lucas said with a chuckle. "They're awkwardly trying to keep her company, I swear."

"Oh no", Will groaned in realization, getting up from the floor with the other boy.

When they were halfway down the stairs, Will's eyes widened. 

"We should've put the present--", he begun, turning his head towards Lucas who was following him, but his foot slipped. And Lucas, who hadn't been that far behind, grabbed his friend in shock. 

The two of them ended up sprawled on the stairs.

"Ow...", Lucas winced. He was on his back, basically sitting on one of the stairs and Will sideways between his legs.

Will stared at him in shock, his eyes wide. "W-where does it hurt?"

"On my ass", his friend huffed, before leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He opened them immediately when he heard a chuckle.

"I'm sorry!", Will got out, covering his mouth with a hand.

Lucas watched him, before laughing, too. "You're the clumsy one and I got hurt, how's that funny to you?"

"Sorry", his friend managed to say between laughter. 

"What happened?", Dustin asked, gaining their attention. He stood in the doorway, El and Mike by his side. They stared at the two of them, the boys amused while El looked slightly worried.

"Will was his usual self", Lucas explained, gaining a shove to his shoulder. "Ow! Don't push! It hurts..."

"Sorry!", Will winced.

"What does that mean?", El asked, confused. "Will's usual self?"

"He tripped", Mike told her chuckling.

"But this time he had Lucas as a cushion", Dustin laughed.

Will got up, embarrassed, before offering his hands for Lucas.

Lucas stared at them, before looking up at his friend.

"To get up", Will said softly, averting his gaze away. His cheeks were pink.

"Oh", Lucas swallowed, before clasping both of the offered hands and let Will help him to his feet.

 

Later in the evening, Will and El warmed some leftovers together and sat at the kitchen counter to eat. 

"It's your birthday tomorrow", Will said after a while.

El glanced at him, smiling. "Yes. It'll be fun."

"Yeah", he hummed in agreement.

"Will?"

"Hm?"

"I don't want to...pressure you", she said slowly, "about Lucas. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

Will blushed, remembering all the things that had happened during the last few days. "I-I know."

"You're not mad?", El whispered.

"No, of course not", he assured her. 

"Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, about that", Will told her softly. "If I'm mad, someday, I promise I'll tell you when and why."

El smiled at her plate, twirling the food there a little. "I can do the same", she said softly, "I promise."

"Good", Will beamed at her.

"But he likes you", she innocently pointed out.

"El...", he groaned in embarrassment, covering his blushing face.

"He does."

"Please, _stop_..."


	30. I want to be with you everywhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Good luck to everything you want to achieve, I know you can do it. <3
> 
> Now, to the chapter itself >>

**I want to be with you everywhere**

 

Chewy woke El up by licking the hand she rested on the edge of her bed. After scratching him for a few minutes, she got up and headed downstairs, the dog right by her heels. 

Everyone else were already in the kitchen, to where she went straight into after hearing the chatter and the clatter of dishes. A soft bark from Chewy was all it took for her to have everyone's attention. 

Her whole family looked at her with amusement, as she simply stared at the mess they had made.

"We were supposed to wake you up", Will broke the silence, sounding disappointed but smiling at her nonetheless.

El broke into a bewildered smile, not really understanding what was going on.

"Good morning", Joyce told her softly, kissing the girl's forehead before gently pulling her into a warm embrace. "Happy birthday, sweetie. I love you so, so much."

I love you.

 

_Joyce had been reading on the couch, when El walked into the dim lit living room. The girl looked out of place, upset, and most of all scared._

_Another nightmare._

_"Honey", Joyce whispered, putting the book away before opening her arms. El's lower lip trembled as she surged into the embrace. "It's okay, baby, everything's alright..."_

_The nightmares usually came in the middle of the night, not right after falling asleep. It was literally thirty minutes from when Joyce had tucked the girl into bed, to the moment she cradled El close in an attempt to calm her down. The back of the girl's shirt was damp with cold sweat._

_"I-I don't want to g-go away", El hiccuped suddenly, startling the woman._

_"You're not going anywhere", Joyce promised in a hushed whisper, hugging her even tighter. "We'll be here for you, take care and protect you, I promise, baby, I promise..."_

_"Yes?", the girl got out in a whisper._

_"Of course... We love you, with all our hearts. I love you, honey, and nothing's gonna change that, ever."_

_El thought over the words she had heard, which spread warmth into her._

_Love._

 

"I love you too, mom", El whispered. "Thank you."

"Oh, honey..." Joyce hugged her tighter, before releasing her with a watery smile.

Jonathan came to her then, smiling as shyly as she did and wrapped his arms around her. "Happy birthday, sis", he said softly, before pulling away. El smiled and thanked her brother, gaining a stroke to the back of her head from him in return.

Jim bend a little to hug her, and El wrapped her arms around his neck. 

"Happy birthday, honey", he murmured to her, kissing her cheek. His beard prickled her face, but she had grown to like it.

"Thank you, dad", she whispered shyly.

Hugging her a little tighter, Jim chuckled before sighing. "I like that."

Lastly, Will came to her. El rested her chin on his shoulder, hugging him back as tight as he hugged her. 

"Happy first official birthday", he told her softly.

"Thank you", she whispered, turning her eyes to the rest of her family.

Will pulled away, smiling brightly at her. "We made a lot of breakfast."

"And a mess", El pointed out, glancing around the kitchen, making Joyce and Jim laugh.

"But you're not allowed to clean anything today", Jonathan told her, smiling crookedly. "Or do anything like that."

"Yeah", Will grinned. "It's your birthday, so you can just relax. Okay?"

And El nodded, smiling shyly. They wanted her to be happy and even the thought made her warm inside. 

Even if she kind of liked cleaning.

 

Will had been right, as there really were a lot of breakfast. 

Strawberries, grapes, and watermelon pieces were the first things on El's plate. Then there were waffles with whipped cream and jam, which were her favorite homemade-breakfast. And of course there were crispy bacon strips, which she munched happily while Chewy rested his head on her leg and begged for a taste.

Having breakfast together was already one of the most precious things about birthdays, in her opinion.

 

Jim and Joyce had to go to work, thus the early breakfast, while Jonathan had a day off. But the parents wanted El to open her presents before having to leave. So, she sat on the couch between Will and Joyce, while Jim and Jonathan took the other one.

"Start with whichever you want, honey", Joyce said, stroking her hair.

El nodded and picked up the nearest one, reading the card to know it was from Jim and Joyce, before carefully taking off the wrapping paper. She stared at the box underneath and the words on it, for a while. 

"A supercom", she whispered then, leaning against Joyce.

"We thought it would be easier", Jim told her, "since all the boys have their own."

"Thank you", she smiled at Jim, gaining a kiss to her head from Joyce.

The next present turned out be a dress, colored with bright yellow and pink flowers, also from her parents. She loved it, smiling widely at the sight of it and then at Joyce and Jim. Then there was a smaller box. El studied the card, before turning her gaze to Jonathan.

"It's from me, but Nancy helped", he told her with a small smile, while she opened the box and took out a pretty bottle. 

"A perfume", she said in awe, eyes a little wide. She had a habit of smelling the ones in Nancy's room, every time she was there.

"Yeah, nothing too fancy, though", Jonathan chuckled. "Hope you like it", he added, as El was already removing the cork to smell it. 

It smelled like summer and flowers. "I like it", she beamed at Jonathan. "Thank you."

There were two presents left, before Will snagged one away. El turned to look at him, confused.

"Open that one first", Will said, motioning to the one on the table. "I want mine to be last."

"Mental", she hummed with a surprised smile on her face, causing everyone to chuckle, but took the pointed present to her lap anyway.

"It's from Becky", Joyce told her softly. "Terry's sister. She insisted on giving this to you."

El nodded, opening the lid of the square box. There was a book, and an envelope with her name on it. Taking the envelope to her other hand, she opened the book to reveal a page after page of pictures. She stopped to one of a young woman, who was smiling brightly to the camera. She had long hair, which reached her lower back, and a beautiful face.

"Terry", El whispered, her eyebrows furrowing a little.

Joyce and Will glanced at the picture, before looking at El for her reaction. But the girl gently tucked the envelope in the between of the first pages, before closing first the album and then the lid of the box.

 _Aren't you going to open it?_ , Will asked her immediately.

El could feel his confusion, and she tried to push her calm feelings to him in return.

 _Tonight_ , she told him, putting the box gently on the table as Joyce stroked her back encouragingly. 

Then El turned to Will, who looked at her with what she supposed was worry. She flashed him a small smile, which broke her brother from his thoughts. 

"Um", Will got out, offering the present to her. "I'm not sure if you will like it, but I thought that, maybe--."

"I'll like it", El reassured him softly, before lifting the lid of the box. Then she stared at the insides, before turning to look at the boy. "I don't understand."

"That is from me, for your present", Will explained, before getting up from the couch. "I'll be right back", he told her, leaving the living room in a hurry.

El lifted a brown leather collar from it's box and turned it around in her hands. Then she turned to the rest of her family with wide eyes.

"You'll see", Jim told her, as Joyce kept stroking her back.

"Here we go", Will said, sitting back down and gaining El's attention. 

And he had a puppy, small brown puppy with short fur and flopped ears, in his arms. "He's your real present", he said, while the puppy tried to wriggle free. 

Chewy came to meet the new dog, too, wildly wagging his tail and almost knocking over the perfume bottle on the coffee table.

"My present?", El whispered, staring at the puppy in wonder.

"Yeah", Will chuckled while offering the dog to El, who took it gently to her lap. She heard how the camera clicked, knowing that Jonathan was taking pictures.

"Why?", she got out, eyes fixated on the dog. It gently nibbled her chin, and she let him.

"One of the guys at work got a load of puppies, and he gave them away", Jim begun, "and this guy was the last one left. Will heard me talk about it with Joyce", he added, smirking at the boy.

Will grinned widely, not even a bit embarrassed of having eavesdropped. Not after the result of it.

"We know how much you like Chewy", Joyce told her. "And we thought, that maybe if you weren't the only new member in our family, you would feel even more at home."

El felt a lot at home, already. But she hugged the dog close, butting her head against his soft fur. "Thank you", she said, loud enough for everyone to hear her.

"What are you naming him?", Will asked, as she begun to put the collar onto the puppy.

After staring at the tiny dog for a while, El thought of a good one. "Rocket", she said, letting Chewy come to meet his new friend.

"Rocket?", Jim chuckled, glancing at Joyce who shared his confusion. The woman amusedly shrugged at him, before turning back to their two youngest children. 

"He has white, around his nose", El said, like it was as simple as she thought it was.

"Rocket Raccoon!", Will said then, grinning when the girl nodded. "Awesome!"

"It's a comic book character", Jonathan explained to the clueless looking adults.

While Jim begun jokingly complain about the boys rubbing their hobbies onto El too much, Joyce and Jonathan laughing and joining him, El leaned to Will's side.

"Thank you", she smiled, eyes on the dog, causing the boy to grin as he watched her.

"It's nothing...", Will brushed it off. "I'm happy you like him."

 

As the adults had to leave for work, El and Will took the dogs to the front yard while waiting for their friends to come over.

El hadn't wanted to do anything special. 

They would eat together in the evening with the whole family and friends, have cake afterwards and all that, but during the day she just wanted to relax and have a good time. 

But she had put on the new dress, after Joyce had wanted see it before having to leave, and tried on the perfume, too. She felt pretty.

"Thank you", El repeated. 

The two of them sat on the grass, with Rocket running around not far from them. Chewy kept the puppy close by guiding it back, if it went too far in the older dog's opinion. 

"It's nothing", Will smiled, glancing at the puppy before turning to her. 

"He's really pretty", she said in awe, while teasing Rocket with her fingers. She pulled them away from its tiny teeth, whenever he tried to bite harder.

"Handsome, El", he reminded with a chuckle.

"You're pretty, too", she smirked.

"Right", Will laughed. He laid down onto the grass, causing the puppy to attack his head.

They soon heard laughter nearing them. El turned to look at the road, Will propping up to his elbows to see, too.

The first one they saw was Dustin on his bike, then Max on her skateboard. Lucas and Mike came behind, turning to the yard when the first two had already reached them.

"What are you doing?", Max asked while hopping off her board, closing the distance between them, before she noticed the puppy. "A puppy!?", she asked, eyes wide, dropping to her knees before them and letting the dog sniff her. 

Then she surged at El, hugging her to the ground. "Happy birthday!"

"You got a puppy?", Dustin asked with a grin, after getting off his bike.

"Yes", El laughed from under Max, who got up before pulling her friend to her feet, too. 

Will lifted Rocket to his arms, afraid the curious puppy would accidentally get stepped on. That would've been a bad beginning for the day and for the puppy, too, in his new family.

Dustin and Lucas simultaneously wrapped El into an embrace, squeezing the girl in the between of them. "Happy birthday, El!"

"Thank you", she told them, before letting out a breathless chuckle. "But I can't breath..."

"Look what you did!", Lucas told Dustin off, as they both pulled slightly away from her.

"Me?", Dustin asked, amused. "She just needs more hugs, to get used to them", he reasoned, patting El's back gently. "But you're fourteen already, I'm so proud... My baby's growing up", he let out a fake cry, making her grin at him widely.

"I'm actually sad, Dustin", Lucas said with a sigh, looking at the girl. "This is her first birthday, ever."

"But no crying on a birthday", Dustin told his friend strongly, before beaming at El.

"No crying", El nodded, smiling at him.

Then the three, along with Will and Max, turned to look at Mike. He had draped one arm over his chest and was holding his other arm, and looked rather uncomfortable under their stare.

"You can have her now, man", Lucas laughed, gently guiding El towards Mike. 

"Let's get inside", Max told the rest of the boys with a grin, taking her backpack from the ground. 

Will called Chewy to follow as he carried the puppy inside, while Dustin and Lucas followed after a final smirk at the pair.

"Smile", El whispered, as she stood before Mike, lifting her hands to his pink cheeks.

And Mike obeyed, offering her a small and shy smile, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling the girl into an embrace. El beamed, moving her arms around his neck.

"Happy birthday, El."

"Good morning, Mike", she answered with a whisper, making him chuckle. 

"...You're really pretty", Mike murmured. He dropped his face to the crook of her neck and took a deep breath, in an attempt to clear his head, before sniffing her skin again."You smell different", he said slowly, confused, pulling away to look at her face. 

"I got a perfume, from Jonathan and Nancy", El told him, eyebrows furrowing. "You don't like it?"

And Mike swallowed, opening his mouth a few times, before blushing dark red. "I-I like it", he muttered.

El smiled a little, fiddling with the hair on the back of Mike's head. He stared at her, trying not to close his eyes due to the extremely giddy feeling.

"I know there's a New Year's kiss", she said then, eyeing him curiously. "But what about birthdays?"

Mike looked at her, his dark eyes meeting her softer ones. He glanced at the house, checking that everyone were inside, before lowering his head. Their foreheads brushed, the closeness sending a combined rush of feelings squirming inside the both of them. 

She stared at him, her eyes wide and so captivating that he wasn't sure how to speak. 

"Birthday presents", he answered slowly, after a few seconds, swallowing hard. He was sure that she heard it, too.

He then slowly lowered his lips to meet hers. And she sighed against his mouth, tangling her fingers into his hair, before both of them pulled slightly away.

El pecked his lips again, briefly this time, before loosening her arms from around his neck. Her cheeks were pink and Mike loved it. He brought his other hand to her face, hovering his finger over her skin, before gently tracing the blush on there. 

"You're blushing", he breathed out, smiling goofily at her. He then absently took a curl of her brown hair, which reached her shoulders, between his fingers.

"So are you", El smiled, shivering a little at the feeling of him touching her hair. It felt weird, but nice at the same time.

"I'm always blushing", Mike chuckled, gaining confidence from her reactions.

El took his hand then, pulling him inside to the house with her. When they got into the living room, their friends had matching grins on while eyeing the two of them.

"You sure took your time, huh?", Lucas teased, wiggling his eyebrows at the two of them. But Mike didn't even mind the teasing, not at that moment.

Will laughed and let Rocket down, who ran around a little before going to El and Mike. She watched with curiosity how Mike crouched, before he offered his hand for the dog to sniff.

"What's his name?", Mike asked, waiting for the dog to come to him.

"Rocket", El answered.

"For real?", Dustin chuckled. 

Lucas laughed and glanced at Will, who shrugged with a grin on his face.

"Rocket", Mike called the puppy then, flicking his fingers, "come here, pupper."

"Pupper", Max laughed - Will, Dustin, and Lucas joining her.

But Mike lifted Rocket up, tuning off the teasing in the background, smirking at the white mark on the puppy's face. "Clearly a Rocket", he chuckled, glancing at El who stood next to him.

"He is", the girl nodded, lifting a hand to scratch the dog behind its ear.

"Scratch the other one, too, while you're at it", Dustin called. "He's been a good boy", he chuckled, double high-fiving with Lucas and Max, while Will shook his head although smiling a little, too.

"Hey!", Mike warned, immediately regaining his blush.

"I'm going to throw you out, if you're a bad one, Dustin", El said. Her voice was calm, but Mike saw the laughter in her eyes.

"El!", Max laughed, leaning back in the recliner she sat on.

"That was unnecessary", Dustin pouted, gaining a soft smile from El.

"Be a good boy, then", she told him, loud laughter immediately filling the room.

After letting Rocket down, Mike took a seat next to Will on the other couch. Dustin shook his head chuckling, as El sat down between him and Lucas. 

"You should open your presents now", Lucas told her, grinning excitedly.

El looked at him with wide eyes. "You have a present for me?", she asked, before noticing the packets on the table. "For me?", she questioned softly.

Max groaned. "Someone give that girl a present, already!"

Dustin reached for the coffee table before offering El a box. "It's from me, Lucas, Will, and Mike."

"Mostly from the three of them", Will told her immediately, gaining glances from his friends. 

El took the card in her hands first, beaming at the picture on the cover of it, and turned it around to see the four names written there. She then proceeded to remove the wrapping paper, and bit her lip before opening the box underneath and peering inside. 

She then let out a laugh, startling her friends. "You got me sweets."

It had been hard on the boys to choose a birthday present for her, as she was their first girl friend. But they had filled a box with whatever they thought she would like. 

And El eyed the insides with curiosity. The small bottles that looked like fruits, some whistle pops, pop rocks, tootsie rolls, and different kind of chocolates. She was moving the wrapped sweets with her fingers a little, going trough them, when she touched something underneath them. Reaching under the candies, she pulled out a movie.

" _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_?", she read the title, turning the tape in her hands.

"We thought that you might like it", Dustin told her, grinning.

"Can we watch it today?", El asked immediately, looking at her friends.

"It's your birthday", Lucas reminded her. "We can do whatever you want."

El nodded slowly, beaming. "Thank you."

"Which one of us next?", Max asked, gaining El's attention. But her friend was looking at Mike.

"I don't know", Mike shrugged, looking at the two presents left on the table. 

"You go first", Max told him, grinning a little as she turned to look at El.

Mike breathed out before offering El a box, looking unsure of himself and his present. She accepted it, and glanced at him with a soft smile before opening the box.

"View-Master", she sighed happily.

"Seriously?", Max asked, trying to see from her seat.

"You got her a View-Master? Seriously?", Lucas turned to Mike, eyebrows high.

But El fiddled with the white disks already, reading through the descriptions. They all were places around the world: Africa, Asia, Europe... A few of specific countries, like from Egypt and Australia. There were so many, that she felt excited even before getting a good look at them.

"I thought, that she might like that", Mike defended himself, his cheeks red from embarrassment. "There are pictures of different places, and, and--."

"I love it", El declared, causing everyone to turn to her.

"You do?", Dustin asked, bewildered.

"Yes", she smiled at Mike, who stared at her shyly.

"G-good", he got out. Will gave his back a gentle pat, and he turned to smile at the floor.

"Then, my turn!", Max announced, getting up from the recliner, before offering a gift bag to El. "I'm not good at wrapping, so..."

"Thank you", El smiled at her. When she peered inside the bag, her face broke into a grin. She pulled out a soft pink cap, immediately putting it on. "How does it look?"

Mike blushed, having turned his eyes back on her right after hearing her question. He just couldn't understand it, how she looked pretty in everything. It was unreal.

"Awesome!", Max grinned.

"Where did you find a pink one?", Lucas asked, arranging the cap better on El's head and tucking hair behind her ear from his side.

"I dyed it myself", Max shrugged.

"How?", El asked in awe, touching the cap in her head with both of her hands.

"You know, in colored water."

"...You did it for me?"

"Well, yeah. I could show you sometime."

When El looked like she could cry at any minute, Max got up and went to sit next to her, Dustin scooting over to the side. Max hugged the girl, smirking a little. "It's just a cap, weirdo."

"But you made it, for me", El told her, "and it's pretty."

"You had her at pretty, already", Dustin told Max, making the girl laugh.

"I have another present for you, if you want", she told El, who pulled away to frown at her.

"You don't need to."

"I know, I know... But you asked me about earrings, remember?"

El nodded. Of course she remembered. 

Almost every girl and woman she knew and had met, had them. Except for her. And Holly, but as Nancy had got her own before school had even begun, El was quite sure that the younger one of Mike's sisters would get hers soon, too.

"I got you a pair."

And then sadness crossed the El's face. "I can't use them."

"That's why I brought...", Max reached for her backpack, soon pulling out a small pouch, "these. I can pierce your ears, if you want."

"Wow, wow, wow!", Lucas said immediately, looking at Max in shock from El's other side.

"What?, Dustin winced.

"Is that safe?", Will asked.

"Does it hurt?", Mike continued, glancing at El in worry.

"I've done it to myself", Max told the boys. "And of course it hurts. It's a hole trough your skin", she turned to look at Mike, who didn't seem satisfied to the answer he got.

"Could you do it?", El asked her, despite the boys' protests.

"Yeah", Max nodded, before chuckling. "If your parents won't kill me."

"They won't", El promised, after glancing briefly at Will who had offered her a calming smile. "Can we do it, now?"

Max blinked a few times. "Yeah...sure, I guess."

 

El sat on the toilet seat in the downstairs bathroom, with the boys gathered around her in the quite tight space for six kids. 

Max had a needle, weird tweezers, and a lighter which she used to burn the needle after cleaning it with disinfectant. And El had her first pair of earrings in her hands. Delicate golden loops, matching with the bracelet she had got from Mike. 

"You ready?" Max sat down on a bathroom step, on her other side, glancing at her face. 

"Yes", El nodded.

"It'll pinch a little."

"Okay."

Mike took El's hand then, giving it a squeeze. And it did pinch. She frowned at the feeling, before it pinched even more, making her take a sharp breath in.

"That was the needle", Max whispered, cleaning the earlobe. Then she put the first loop on, which wasn't easy.

"That hurts more, than the needle", El muttered, squeezing Mike's hand a little more. 

"I know, sorry", Max said in a low voice, concentrating hard on keeping her hands steady.

El turned her eyes on the boys. 

Dustin seemed a bit nauseous, while Lucas simply looked horrified. Mike had worry written all over his face, which didn't help her either, but Will had managed to keep a calm expression on. When she turned her eyes to him he smiled at her, causing a soft smile to form on her lips, too.

Max soon moved to do the other ear, which went a lot faster than the first one. 

"Done!", she grinned afterwards, looking at the piercings. "Do they hurt?"

"Not really", El said, moving to the mirror to see them herself and tilting her head from side to side. 

Will was more curious than the other boys, and less nauseous, too, and came to see the piercings from up close.

"Well, after a tattoo, I bet that's nothing", Max shrugged, wiping a little blood away from El's other ear.

"I don't remember it", El said slowly, glancing at her wrist.

"Won't people notice it, though?", Max asked. "It's on a quite visible place, after all."

"That's right", Dustin said slowly, eyebrows furrowed. "What are you going to do?"

"You can't wear long sleeved shirts every day", Will told El, who frowned.

"I can cover it with makeup", she said, although she didn't sound quite convinced.

"For the rest of your life?", Will questioned.

"No", she told him. "Adults can have tattoos."

 

Mike hadn't liked the idea at first, of El getting her ears pierced, because he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable or be in pain in any possible way. But she had wanted to do it, and he knew he didn't have any right to stop her. 

But now as he stared at her, while she and Will took out bowls and bags of chips, he actually kind of liked the earrings. 

Well, he liked her, no matter what came along. 

 

They had finger foods with the movie, small meat pastries and other things, before they dug into the candies El had placed into a large bowl.

She loved the movie, like the boys had thought she would. 

And Mike, as he had seen the movie tens of times already, kept watching at her instead. Her smile made him smile, while her laugh sent butterflies into his stomach.

Max challenged El to pour a whole bag of pop rocks into her mouth, after which El told her friend to do the same with one of the fruit powder bottles. Lucas then threw a challenge to Mike, who took it, Dustin doing the same with Will.

It all ended up in a mess - clearly - and to loud laughter. 

And, mostly to Mike's joy, with El giggling so hard that she covered her mouth, embarrassed, leaning her head back against the couch.

 

Rocket pee'd inside, right when the movie ended. Will begun cleaning the floor, being used to it already, ushering the rest to take the puppy out.

But despite not knowing what to do, Lucas stayed behind to help.

"Thanks", Will breathed out, coming back to the living room with a wet rag and a bottle of cleanser.

"It's nothing", Lucas told him, wiping the floor with toilet paper. "Um, what do I do with these?"

"Throw them to the toilet", his friend chuckled.

"Ah, okay, sure... That makes sense", the other boy said, feeling slightly embarrassed. 

After flushing the toilet, Lucas washed his hands with as much soap as he felt was necessary. Will joined him soon, and Lucas made room for his friend.

"Did you use the whole bar?", Will chuckled, picking up the foam with his free hand. "It's just dog pee, Lucas."

"It's pee."

"Yeah, but dog pee."

"Can we stop talking about pee?", Lucas whined, sitting down on the closed toilet.

"Sure", Will nodded, washing the rag in the sink, before letting out a laugh.

"What?", Lucas asked, watching him with amusement.

"...Nothing."

"Seriously, what is it?", the other boy chuckled.

Will twisted the rag in his hands, sniggering before even saying anything. "How's your butt?"

Lucas' eyes widened before he laughed. "It's.. Um, fine", he answered, turning his gaze away from his friend. 

"Yeah?", Will laughed softly. "Good."

 

When Rocket begun to get tired, El cuddled it close. She nuzzled its head with her nose, gaining puppy kisses from him in return.

Mike and Will both looked at the girl softly, while Max, Lucas, and Dustin talked about what games they could play outside.

"Should we play steal the flag?", Lucas suggested, after a few rounds of ideas.

"We need to spice it up a bit", Max grinned, already thinking about the possibilities.

"How?", Will asked her.

"Hmm, let me think", Max plugged out some grass, before suddenly stopping. "We need guns."

El stopped her movement, leaning her forehead against Rocket's head.

"Do you have any water-guns?", Lucas turned to Will, liking the idea.

"A few only, I think", Will frowned. "Not enough for all of us."

"What about water balloons? Or normal ones?", Max asked.

"...Yeah, mom got some for El's birthday, we actually forgot them", he said, turning to look at El. She sat still, hugging Rocket close. "You okay, El?"

The girl lifted her head up, her face blank. "Yes", she said softly, looking at her friends.

"Maybe we could fill them with water, and then divide the water guns equally", Dustin proposed, getting everyone to agree with him.

El looked confused, and Mike picked on it. "We divide into two teams - both have their own home bases and we put up a flag somewhere in the between. Both teams try to take it to their home base, before the other."

"What are the teams, then?", El looked at her friends.

"No more El and Will on the same team", Lucas said immediately, gaining a nod from his two friends.

"Yeah, no way", Dustin agreed.

"Why?", Will asked, eyebrows high.

"It's not fair", Lucas told him, smiling at the boy's confused face. But he wasn't brave enough to share his selfish reason to all of his friends. 

"Besides, you can talk through your minds", Mike reminded, "that alone is too much of an advantage."

"So, they're on different teams?", Max nodded, turning to El. "Who do you want in your team?"

"I'm choosing?", the girl asked slowly.

"Sure", Lucas shrugged.

"Then...", El hummed, looking at her friends, "Mike and Max."

Mike smiled smugly and Max cheered, while they all got up from the ground before taking the dogs inside to safety from their upcoming play.

Lucas couldn't help the wide smile, as he went to look for the supplies together with Will. 

 

And Will had remembered correctly: they only had two water-guns, both teams getting one. But the teams got tens of water balloons, too, which took some time to fill and securely take to their home bases. The flag stood somewhere on the lot, where Jonathan had gone to take it, while their bases were in different ends of the property and in the shadows of the trees.

 

"Why did you choose us?", Max asked El, while they waited for an agreed starting command from the boys team through the supercom. 

They had marked their base by wrapping paper streamer around a few trees, as high as they could and creating a square, just like the boys on the other side of the property had done.

"You and Lucas are both fast", El told the girl slowly, "and Mike and Dustin are both...strategist."

"What are you and Will, then?", Max asked, her light eyebrows a little furrowed.

El smiled a little. "Annoying."

Mike chuckled, shaking his head at her. "No, you're both sneaky and it's not fair."

"But you chose us, not Dustin and Lucas", Max smirked, motioning towards Mike with a head tilt.

"Yes", El nodded, arranging her shirt on better, to which she had changed into along with shorts. 

"Why?", Mike asked her, wanting to know, too.

El glanced at him, then at Max. "Because I want to win with you", she told them softly. 

"Good", Max pulled El to her side, with an arm around the girl's shoulders. "And we're going to win this one, right?"

"Sure", Mike grinned.

"Who wants the gun?", El asked, looking at the already filled thing lying next to the water balloons.

Mike lifted his hands up, shaking his head. "I'm not good with those."

"I'll take it", Max offered. 

"You're good with it?", El turned to her.

Max chuckled. "That's easy, water balloons aren't. So, good luck with them, I guess."

 

On the other side of the property, Lucas grabbed the water-gun, pumping it ready.

"We're ready, over", Dustin told the other team, pressing the button of the supercom.

" _Finally, over_ ", Mike said trough the device.

"When the clock strikes three?", Dustin suggested, glancing at his clock. "Mine says two fifty-eight, over."

" _Two fifty-eight here, too. Starting at three, over._ " 

"I like how formal this is", Will chuckled.

"I'm not losing once again", Lucas declared, with a slight frown on his face. "Every time it's me losing, seriously... Snow fight, every freaking board game, now Magic, too", he listed, "...the beach ball game, and don't even let me get started on the water balloons", he glared at Dustin, who kept grinning widely.

"Oh man, that was the bomb!", Dustin laughed, while intently staring at his clock.

"But that wasn't a game", Will reminded Lucas, "they just pranked us."

"It still feels like losing", Lucas frowned. 

Will couldn't help the smile that tugged his lips.

"Ten seconds, guys", Dustin told them.

 

"Five, four, three, two, one, GO!", Mike told the girls, grabbing a whole bucket of water balloons with him.

 

No one knew where the flag would be, so both teams sneaked around the lot, trying to avoid the other group while looking for it. 

 

"It has to be somewhere", Lucas murmured while looking around, the gun ready in his hands.

"We'll find it", Will whispered. He was trying to think of a place, that Jonathan could've hid it at.

 

The boys were too close to them but going to the other direction, so Mike, El, and Max sat down behind a bush and waited for them to pass by.

El touched both Mike and Max's arms. _At the road?_ , she suggested. That was the only place they hadn't checked yet. _By the mail box?_

The two nodded. 

Mike lifted his head, to peak from behind the bush, before motioning for the girls to move.

 

"All clear", Lucas informed, when the boys got to the patio behind the house.

"Damn", Dustin said, looking around with confusion. "Where is it?"

"Where are they?", Will wondered out loud. "We haven't seen them, even once."

"Shit!", Lucas huffed before running off, forcing Will and Dustin to follow him.

 

They were running back from the roadside, the flag in El's hand, when they saw the boys running towards them with Lucas on the front.

Max ran towards him, spraying him wet, as Mike and El started throwing balloons at all the three of them.

"Run, El!", Mike shouted, and immediately El bolted towards the tree line.

Dustin ran after her, after dropping all the balloons he carried, but she was faster. Not much, but just enough.

 

"We should've had more rules", Max laughed as they sat on the porch afterwards, she and El drying their hairs with towels.

"Yeah, like getting eliminated if you're soaking wet or something", Dustin chuckled, looking at Max and Mike's completely wet clothes.

"That was easy", El nodded, smirking at the boys.

"That's it!", Lucas said strongly, lifting a finger to point at her. "Next time, you're on my team!"

El simply blinked at him for a few seconds, before a smile formed on her lips. "It's a promise."

Lucas immediately leaned back with a relieved look, erupting laughter among the group. 

"You're such a sore loser", Mike grinned, while leaning back in his chair and watching Rocket play with his feet under the table.

"Oh my", Joyce said as she came to the porch, smiling widely at the sight of them. "You look like you had fun!"

"We did", El beamed at her, gaining a kiss to her forehead.

"Jim will be home soon, and we'll start grilling right after", Joyce told them, ruffling Will's wet hair before going back inside.

"I'm starving", Dustin complained immediately after she left.

Lucas snatched Max's discarded towel, and threw it at him.

 

The dinner was the highlight of the day, along with breakfast, in El's opinion. She had her family and friends gathered at the same table. 

Nancy came with Holly, and even gave her a present - her first purse. Holly had made her a cute birthday card and, as they sat around the table, she insisted on sitting in El's lap.

El loved it, being surrounded by people that wanted to be with her and who did so many amazing things just for her. So despite Nancy and Mike protesting and wanting to let her eat in peace, she lifted Holly to her lap with a smile. She got a small peck from the girl, too. 

And Jonathan was proud of himself, as he got the innocent kiss finally on film.

Joyce and Jim didn't mind the earrings, they even complimented Max for getting them done so neatly and also with high hygiene. Joyce thought they were pretty, telling El that she could loan some of her earrings after the piercings had fully healed. 

 

All the guests left after dinner, which lasted well into the evening. 

El and Will both took showers, having ran around so much that their feet were green. Joyce had gently suggested a bath for her, but she still couldn't take one. Even the idea was too much.

She put on her pajamas and afterwards stood in the middle of her room. Her new dress rested on the back of her chair, and the supercom sat on her bedside table. 

But the perfume from Jonathan, the purse from Nancy, the movie from the boys, the pink cap from Max, and the slide master from Mike... They were all on her desk. She looked at them with a smile, before her eyes rested on the photo album. 

After slowly opening it, she took the envelope from the between of the pages.

El slowly moved to her bed and leaned against the headboard. She wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to open the letter. Becky had never contacted her, in any way, even though she had their number. The woman had even spoke on the phone with Jim, a couple of times. But never with her.

There was a soft knock on the door, before it opened and Will peeked in. He was dressed in his pajamas, too, his hair still wet. "Can I come?"

El nodded, fiddling with the envelope.

Will came into the room, just then noticing what she held with both of her hands. 

"Oh... If you want to read it, I can go", he offered softly.

"No", she shook her head immediately, her eyebrows furrowing and eyes pleading, before patting the place next to her. 

Will closed the door behind him and came to the bed, before arranging some pillows behind his back. He looked at her, while she stared at the envelope and traced her name on the front of it.

"It must be weird", she said softly. "They waited for Jane, all that time..."

Will watched her, trying to come up with something to say.

"I'm scared to open this", El whispered after a long pause.

"Don't be." 

After a few seconds she turned the envelope around and opened it, soon pulling a letter out of it. 

With a deep sigh, El begun to read it through. And Will sat by her, eyes cast outside of the window, offering her the silent support she needed.

She didn't cry, like she had thought she would. After reading it a few times, she tucked it back to the envelope.

"Do you want to talk about it?", Will whispered, having turned back to look at her, after hearing the rustle of the paper.

El came to take his hand, which he turned around to lace their fingers. 

He had never held anyone else's hand like that, other than his parents and Jonathan's when he had been younger. But with her, it was different. 

The brief moment they had shared in the upside down, her hands clasping his and offering warmth and comfort when he had needed them the most... It had kept him hopeful. It was what he had remembered of her, all year long, before finally meeting her again in the upside down. And it was how he had been able to bring her back home.

Holding her hand felt normal and comforting. It felt grounding, and that feeling was something he needed a lot sometimes.

"She is selling their house", El told him after a while. "And she hopes, that I'm happy."

"Are you?", Will asked, swallowing the lump from his throat and fearing for the worst answer already.

She gave his hand a squeeze. "Yes."

He squeezed gently back. "You're not...disappointed, are you?"

"I have no reason to be", she pointed out softly. "I'm happy."

"If you're not", Will cleared his throat, looking at the covers. "...tell me, or anyone. Don't do anything stupid, you know--."

"Will", El whispered, causing him to turn his gaze on her. "I understand", she told him. "I'm not running away."

 

That was where Joyce found the two, when she came to say goodnight, both dressed in pajamas and asleep on El's bed. 

Smiling at her children, she covered them with a blanket. She kissed both of their foreheads, chuckling a little as El snuggled closer to Will, while their hands were tightly clasped together.

"Goodnight, sweeties", Joyce whispered, before shutting the lights.

There was nothing that made her happier, than her children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. A longer chapter this time, hope you liked it!
> 
> And I'm sorry that the updates take longer now: I'm busy with work and people, and when I have time to write... I'm stuck. I have no idea where I'm going with this story or where I should stop, and whether I should divide this into two parts or not.
> 
> But I'm not going anywhere, I promise. AND IF I TAKE TOO LONG, TELL ME, REMIND ME, PLEASE. I get all your comments straight to my phone and I loooove reading them. 
> 
> Love, preciousbean xx


	31. You gotta fight for your right to party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. WE REACHED 6,000 HITS.
> 
> Thank you for all the support and love, seriously. 
> 
> (Btw, I saw a screenshot in IG from my story and proudly ran to show it to my better half, haha. Probably thinks I'm a lunatic now, but who cares... You guys are so cute.)

**You gotta fight for your right to party**

 

Jonathan and Nancy both got into NYU and their families threw them a party, celebrating them together at the Wheeler's back yard.

"I still can't believe it", Karen said, hugging Nancy to her side. "Sociology. You got in on first try."

"That's what I'm interested in", Nancy said, smiling shyly. "It's not a law school, mom."

"It could've been! You're so smart, that sometimes I'm not even sure if you're my daughter", Karen sighed and gave Nancy's cheek a kiss, after seeing the girl's raised eyebrows.

"Right...", Joyce chuckled, shaking her head. "You were the best in our year, come on, Karen."

"Mom!", Nancy gasped, turning back to her mother. "Why didn't you tell me?"

But Karen fled the situation, going to congratulate Jonathan whom Ted and Jim had ganged up on. 

Or that's what it had looked like to her, if someone would have asked afterwards.

Meanwhile, El showed Holly how she could control the soda in Mike's mug, without spilling it anywhere. Will and Mike stood a little further away from the two of them, and the girls watched intently as the orange drink begun to raise up and out of the mug.

Holly giggled before covering her mouth, gaining the boys' attention.

"What are you doing?", Will chuckled while looking around, trying to understand where the girls stared at.

"Look!", Holly pointed at the mug in Mike's hand, who immediately moved it further away from his light blue button-up.

"Oh!", he got out, before turning to El. "Don't spill it, please", he begged. "My mom, she'll kill me!"

Will chuckled as El turned her gaze on Mike, and the soda splashed back into the mug. 

She lifter her eyebrows slightly, wondering just what went through his head. "I won't." 

El would never ruin Mike's shirt, especially one that suit him that well.

 

Nancy found her and Jonathan an apartment from New York, small one which they could afford together and which would free just before their term begun in the fall. 

They still weren't officially a pair. El had even asked about it, from the both of them. 

But Nancy liked being with Jonathan, and the other way around, so El let them be and smiled softly when Jonathan finally told his family the news about the flat.

El had seen the way they looked at each other, and had walked past Jonathan's room once when the two had been doing something more than just kissing. The sight had led her to wonder, that if she and Mike were girlfriend and boyfriend, maybe Nancy and Jonathan were something more than that.

Because they definitely hadn't ever kissed like _that._

 

Summer went by fast. Too fast, to be honest.

They would start high school in a week and El had constant butterflies in her stomach.

She had her backpack ready, with a pencil case and a binder for papers - everything. She had even chosen her first day outfit. Well, if it rained she would have to think about it again. But for now, she was as ready as a person could be. 

And excited, she was extremely excited.

 

Max wanted out of her house on her fourteenth birthday, calling El in the morning. So the girl went over with her bike, after breakfast. They went to the movies, with just the two of them, and into a cafe afterwards for ice creams.

El got out a package from her bag, which she had carried along since leaving home in the morning. 

"Here", she said, offering it to her friend. "Happy birthday."

"Seriously?", Max questioned, while opening the present already. She revealed a notebook with black covers, and turned it around in her hands.

"Write in it", El told her, looking serious.

"Why?", Max asked, eyes still on the notebook.

"I like your writing. All of it", El whispered. She had read some of the things her friend had written, little texts which she scribbled every now and then. "Just write, anything."

Max lifted her gaze and smiled shyly at her friend. "Yeah, sure...thanks, El."

"And give me your hand."

"...Why?"

El rolled her eyes, and the other girl stretched her hand over the table grinning.

"Are you going to read my hand?", Max joked, referring to an article they had read a few weeks ago.

Her friend smiled as she got something out of her pocket. "Some other time", El said, eyes twinkling with laughter as she put something around Max's wrist.

It was a friendship bracelet - with white, yellow, and purple stripes. Max let out a surprised laugh, before grinning widely at the sight. 

"You have one too, right?", she asked El, who put another bracelet on the table with identical colors.

"Nancy told me, that she did this with her friend", the girl said softly, watching Max put the bracelet on her right wrist.

"Yeah? Did she teach you how to make these, too?"

"Yes. They were pretty." With El's awkwardness with everything she made by hands, except for food, it had took Nancy a few hours to teach her. A few very long hours.

"Well, I like them, too", Max grinned. "Thanks, El. Really. This is the best birthday."

El patted Max's hand, who took a hold of it, eyebrows furrowing after her friend's words. 

"What happened in the morning?", she asked in a small voice.

Max shrugged, turning her gaze away. "Mom was herself, once again. Forgot my birthday and then came home at four in the morning. Woke me up by laying on the stairs and crying... Billy was still asleep when I left."

Billy, who was the same age as Jonathan and Nancy, had failed a few of his classes and would still be in high school when they would start in there. And after hearing things about the guy from Max, El wasn't sure if she even wanted to meet him. 

Max swore that she would avoid him as much as she could, which meant that El would, too.

"It's fine", Max hurried to tell her. "I mean...it's always like that. I'm used to it already."

"Why is it?"

"I don't know."

Frowning, El looked at the table. 

"Why don't we go somewhere?", Max suggested, gently shaking the hand she held onto, on the table. "Shops, or something. I could use some new clothes."

El smiled at the suggestion, gaining a smile back.

 

"Grandma send me some money", Max said, as they walked down the street. "I'm lucky that I saw the letter first, otherwise the asshole would've bought beer with it."

El glanced at her. "But it was your letter?"

"He doesn't care. When it's from my grandma, it always has money on it."

"...What is she like?"

"Oh, um, nice, I guess", Max shrugged, opening the door to a small shop. "We get along pretty well. I sometimes go over there for weekends. She lives in Indianapolis, so it's not that far."

"Good", El said, before she saw something and pulled the other girl along.

"You don't have a denim jacket?", Max asked, as both of them eyed a jacket on the rack.

El shook her head. "But, I want one. Like the one you have", she said, turning to look at Max.

"Oh", the girl said, clucking her tongue in thought. She had fabric patches all over hers. "You know, save your money for the patches and stuff, I have an extra one. It's light blue like this... well, it's even lighter, so it's not really my color anyway. I haven't even used it."

"Really?", El asked, her whole face lighting up with excitement.

"Sure", Max said. "And we just happen to be at my favorite shop here, from where we can get all the things you need."

 

Max chose herself some clothes, tees mostly but some jeans, too. And El ended up with a set of different kinds of girly patches which made Max chuckle, and some really cool ones - like the large ones they were going to put on the back of the jacket. 

The clerk, a young woman, sniggered at the sight of them. She went through the badges El had brought to her, hitting the total to the cash register, before pulling out another box from under the counter. 

"Here's some more", the clerk said, while digging out one to show them. "I think this one's cute." 

" _Girl gang_ ", Max read out loud, chuckling. "That's actually quite cool."

El nodded, glancing at her friend with a grin.

"You know what...", the woman said. She took another badge from the box, before offering one for each girl. "I'll give you these, as an extra. Just promise me to come back, okay?"

"Please...", Max laughed. "I have no other place to buy things, but from here."

"I know the feeling", the woman nodded, pursing her lips. "That's why we need to stick together, us weird girls, am I right?"

"Yeah", Max grinned, taking her bag after paying.

El smiled at the woman. "Thank you", she said, as they were leaving.

The woman blew her a kiss, before waving after them. 

"I think", Max begun as they went to fetch El's bike from the outside of the movie theatre, where they had left it in the morning, "...that we could get the jacket from my house. Then we could go to yours and put the patches on it?"

Beaming at her friend, El nodded. "Yes. I'd like that."

 

They got to Max's a moment after, stopping to the road. Together they eyed her house for a while. 

"Maybe you should wait here", Max suggested slowly, her voice not quite as strong and confident as it usually was.

"I can come with you", El said, glancing at her friend over her shoulder.

"No, no", Max got out, getting up from the back of the bike. "Just...wait here, okay?", she said, before running up the stairs and disappearing inside.

And El waited while clutching the handle bar, her knuckles white, staring at the house. 

She knew that something was wrong. Something was always wrong at her friend's house, and the bad feeling she had worried her to no end. That was why Max had practically lived the whole summer with her, every time El got to decide. 

_"--you running of again?"_ , someone yelled then, startling her.

_"Stop following me!"_ , she heard Max shout, before the girl walked out of the door with a woman following closely behind.

"I didn't raise you to be that rude", the woman hissed, before turning to look at the other girl, swaying a little on her place. 

El stared at her openly, curious as it was her first time to see her. Max's mother had flaming red hair and eyes that were even a lighter shade of blue than those of her daughter's.

"So you're the girl, whose house my daughter practically lives in, yeah?", the woman asked while looking at her, up and down, with a slight sneer.

She had been beautiful, before, but El couldn't see it because of the growing distrust she had towards the woman. 

"You don't have to talk to her", Max told El when she reached her, stuffing things into her backpack in a hurry.

"I'm your mother, you ungrateful brat", the woman said, walking to them. "I bet you love it, how their family has money and everything", she laughed, as Max got to the back of the bike.

"Go", Max ushered her friend, but her mother stopped them by taking a hold of the bike's handle bar. "Let go!", she hissed, glaring at the woman.

"Billy's so much better than you", her mother spat, looking at her daughter with hazy eyes. "He respects me, like you should... I don't know what I did, to deserve you."

"You _don't know?_ ", Max growled, before tearing the woman's hand away from the bike. El immediately begun to pedal them away, while her friend stared back at her mother. "Fuck you, you crazy _bitch!"_

"No, fuck you!", her mother screamed. "Spoiled _bastard!"_

An empty can clanged to the road next to them. Max wrapped her arms around El's middle, looking behind them until they turned from her street. 

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay", El got out, despite the shock that still pumped her heart in a nervous beat.

"It's not okay! It's just not", Max groaned. "I _hate_ her. She drinks and she's completely messed up in her head... You know, she was an artist once. Like made paintings and that kind of things. But now they're all shit. And it's her fault."

El scrunched up her nose in thought.

"Fuck!", Max cursed, closing her eyes tight. "That's why I didn't want you to come... Ever since dad went to jail, she's been like that."

She wasn't sure if she should ask about it, but El did anyway: "Why did he go to jail?"

"I haven't told you?", Max asked, getting a shake of an head as an answer. "Some guy attacked him and Billy. It was self defense, the guy had a gun", Max explained. "He's there for manslaughter."

"Killing?", El confirmed, as her stomach knotted.

"Yeah... Well, it was an accident, but still. He's got eight years left."

"It must be hard." 

"I guess."

But El knew, what she was talking about.

The rest of their way went in silence. Max rested her forehead against El's back, hiding her tears even though she didn't need to. Her friend knew. 

In a silent agreement between the girls, Max stayed for the night. El wasn't ready to let her go home, and she didn't want to go, either.

 

Two days before school begun, El went to take the English exam she had been preparing herself through the summer. But after taking it, she was told that she would have to wait until school begun to find out if she had passed or not. 

So she waited, not being able to sit down in the evening and enjoy a movie that Jonathan wanted to watch with her and Will. 

At that moment El wasn't even sure anymore, if it was just the school that she worried about.

She sat with her brothers, eyes on the screen, but her head was one big blur.

 

"El?", Jonathan asked softly, startling her.

"Yes?"

"What are you thinking about?"

El stared at the screen for a while, before turning to her big brother. "Many things", she whispered.

Jonathan eyed her for a while, and she could see the worry from his eyes. That was something she liked about him so much, how he showed his emotions to her, to everyone.

"You can talk about it with us, if you want", Will told her, from the girl's other side.

Fiddling with her hands, she wondered what was the one thing that bothered her the most. School was something that seemed to make almost everyone nervous, at least a little, so it didn't feel fair to use it as an excuse. 

Minutes passed and when Will was about to open his mouth, El got up from the couch and hurried upstairs. 

The boy turned to his brother, eyes wide and shocked. "Did I--. Did I say something?"

Jonathan simply shook his head, eyebrows furrowed. "She'll come back."

El indeed returned a moment later, sitting back to the couch between the two before offering something to Jonathan. "Read it", she told him softly.

And she and Will watched as their brother hesitantly opened the letter, and then read it. He put it back to its envelope afterwards, before giving it back to El. "...You want to see her? Becky?"

His voice was soft and caring, and she went to lean to his side. "No."

Jonathan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and leaned his cheek on her head. "You have the address."

"And the phone number", Will gently pointed out.

El shook her head. "She doesn't live there, anymore."

"Right..."

"And I don't need to see her", she told them.

"Do you want to see the house?", Jonathan asked, mumbling against her hair.

She scrunched up her nose a little in thought, and Will saw it. 

"We can go there, if you want. I'm sure mom or Jim would drive us", the boy told her.

"We don't need to", El whispered.

"I can drive, if you want to", Jonathan said. He knew that she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings - that was simply who she was. But everyone needed to be a little selfish, too, sometimes. "We went to the grave, to say goodbye, but we can go to the house, too."

El fiddled with the sleeves of her oversized hoodie, thinking about his words. "Yes?"

"Yes", he nodded. "What do you think if the three of us go there, together? Just us." 

"Okay", El agreed slowly. 

"When do we go?", Will asked softly.

"Now", Jonathan told them, getting up. "Mom...", he called, before disappearing around the corner. 

El felt chilly, after the warm arm around her was gone. A hand came to clasp hers and she offered Will a small smile, before she brought her other hand to cover theirs.

Jonathan returned to the room then, Joyce not far behind.

"It's a secret, mom."

Joyce sighed. "Be back before midnight, okay?"

"If we're not back until then, it's because we're lost", Jonathan said, gaining a dark glare from their mother. "I'm kidding, I know where we are going."

 

El sat to the middle seat in the back, while Will went to the front with a map. Her heart kept drumming, excited of the sudden plans.

They listened to radio, the whole way, while Jonathan got guided to the right direction. El leaned her chin next to Will's shoulder, on the back rest of his chair, silently learning how to look at maps for directions. 

"It's on the left side, soon", Will spoke up, putting the map down after an hour.

Opening her seatbelt, El moved to the window. She saw meadows and trees, and a lot of green.

"It's still for sale", Jonathan commented, after seeing the sign by the road. "We can drive to the yard."

"Yeah?", Will asked, unsure, while his brother was already taking the turn.

"Sure."

 

The first thing El saw was the two storey house, after getting out of the car. Then she looked at the grass fields around it, realizing how far away they were from everything. 

The only noises she heard were the birds and some passing cars further away, which were so far that they actually sounded more like thick wind than vehicles.

But what she saw next was the tree-house. Determined, she climbed up and sat on the edge. She offered her brothers a small smile, before staring at the house.

This, all this, could have been her life. If things had been different, she would have grown up at the house standing before her, played in the tree-house she currently sat in, and grown up with her mother and aunt. But it wasn't how her life had turned out. 

And for the first time in weeks, after her birthday, El truly felt at peace.

She had gotten the closure to being Jane Ives - someone, who she had never truly been. 

Now she could fully concentrate on being El Jane Hopper: daughter of Joyce and Jim, sister to Will and Jonathan, owner of two dogs, and the girl with the most amazing friends. 

She had so much happiness and love in her life, something that hadn't been reality for her before escaping the laboratory almost two years ago.

El considered herself lucky, based on all the things she now had. 

Family, friends, and home. And Mike, she added to herself with a soft smile.

Not everyone had a Michael Wheeler in their lives.

 

The ride back home was relaxed. Jonathan stopped to buy them all fries and milkshakes from a drive-through, and they ate them at the parking lot.

"Try it", Will grinned at El, who had leaned forward from the backseat.

She held a fry between her fingers, looking between him and Jonathan with her eyebrows furrowed. "But... The milkshake is sweet?"

Jonathan chuckled, shaking his head while eating. "You don't need to do that, El."

"But you won't know what it tastes like", Will reasoned. 

"Has everyone tried it?", El asked in wonder.

"Yeah--."

"No, they haven't", Jonathan interrupted, amused.

"Well, almost everyone has", Will informed, before turning back to El. "It's one of those weird things people try without a reason."

After debating with herself long enough, El removed the lid from her milkshake and dipped the french fry in it before eating it. She scrunched up her nose at the taste, immediately putting the lid back on. "No." 

Her brothers laughed at her reaction, and she frowned at them.

 

_"Mike?"_

The boy rushed to his supercom in the dark, tripping to a book on his way. He made a face, hissing in pain after hitting his toe, before pushing the button of the device. "El?", he breathed out.

_"Hi."_

Mike couldn't help but chuckle, after hearing her voice. She sounded happy. "Hi."

_"What are you doing?"_

"Um, nothing really", he told her. "What about you?"

_"I should be asleep."_

"Yeah, me too... You can't sleep?"

_"I can. I just wanted to hear you."_

Mike blushed bright red, slumping back to bed.

_"You are blushing"_ , she pointed out, and he was sure he heard her giggle.

"Yeah", he agreed, smiling goofily from ear to ear. "But I wanted to hear you, too."

_"See you tomorrow?"_ , El asked softly.

"Sure", he whispered. "Goodnight, El."

_"Goodnight, Mike."_

 

A couple houses away, Lucas fell asleep while clutching at his supercom for the umpteenth night in a row.

He still hadn't figured out what he wanted to say to Will.


	32. Here comes the sun and I say it's all right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically **PART II** of **Never gonna give you up** begins from here. 
> 
> Fall 1985 onwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I'm actually sitting here and wondering if some of you, my precious readers, have given up on me. *insert mouth wide open -emoji* And I hope not, because I still have so many chapters to come!
> 
> But you, who are reading this, you're amazing. 11 out of 10, I swear.

**Here comes the sun and I say it's all right**

 

"Will!", Joyce shouted, as she poured herself coffee. "Breakfast!"

"Coming!"

Jim sighed, sharing a look with El. "Byers are always late."

"We're not", Jonathan said, smirking from behind his mug. "We're just in time."

El smiled while she ate, listening to the conversation. Will soon slumped down next to her, hurrying to eat his breakfast.

"Don't choke", El said, as she watched him, "we're not late."

Will nodded as he chew, offering her a smile before cutting another piece of his pancake.

"Well honey, are you excited?", Joyce asked her, smiling widely. "I know it's Will's first day of high school, but it's your first day of school, ever", she added softly.

"Can't wait", El said, before she ate the last bite off of her plate. 

She really couldn't. After sleeping restlessly through the whole night, El had basically given up. She had got up at five in the morning, took the dogs out for an early walk which had turned into a run, took a shower, and got dressed. She had even helped with breakfast. 

Rocket came to her then, whining softly by her feet until El lifted the puppy, who was now a little bigger than before, to her lap.

"He's like a furry baby", Jim smirked, as the puppy kept whining.

"I had no idea puppies cried that much", Jonathan shook his head, glancing at the dog in question. 

"Chewy didn't", Joyce reminded him. 

"Do babies cry a lot?", El wondered out loud, feeding Rocket a small piece of ham.

Jim and Joyce shared a look. 

"Yes."

"A lot."

Jonathan chuckled at the adults. "Glad to have passed that time, huh?"

Jim leaned back in his chair, smirking at Joyce. "What do you think, honey, have we passed that time?"

"Oh, I don't know", Joyce smiled at him playfully. 

"...Mom", Will got out, staring at the adults wide eyed.

El blinked slowly, confused, glancing at everyone at the table.

"You're not, you know... Are you?", Jonathan got out, his gaze going back and forth between the two.

Joyce sipped her coffee, casting Jim an amused glance, before shaking her head with a wide grin on her face. "I meant that furry baby."

Simultaneously, Jonathan and Will both sighed with relief, causing Jim to holler with laughter while Joyce kept grinning at her sons' faces.

El, on the other hand, wondered what was wrong with having a baby in the first place. 

 

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin waited for Will and El at a crossroad, all of them immediately breaking into wide grins after seeing the two of them. It hadn't felt real before but now the hope inside of them turned into the realization, that yes, she was indeed on her way to school with them.

"I still can't believe this!", Lucas raised his voice for the two siblings to hear, too, raising his hands into the air. "Thank you!", he shouted at the sky, erupting laughter among the boys.

"What are you doing?", El asked, smiling a little with her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as she and Will got to their friends.

"Thanking whatever there is, that made this moment possible", Lucas answered, pointing at the sky.

"God?", Dustin suggested, looking at him funnily.

"I have no idea what there really is, so I stick with 'whatever'."

"Good call", Will sniggered, as they took off.

 

Mike waited so that he could ride his bike next to El. 

She was wearing high waist shorts and a soft pink shirt, paired with sneakers. And a jean jacket he hadn't seen before, with different kinds of patches on it. Quite girly one for sure, because of the colors and prints, but it suited her. 

The boys were dressed in shorts and tees too, with light jackets now in the morning because of the gentle breeze. Summer was clearly coming to an end, as it was still warm but the mornings were turning chillier by each passing day. 

But even though they were all wearing basically the same things, El just managed to look good, really good, compared to them. Her shoulder length hair was in slight curls like it normally was, and slightly messy because of the wind - but to Mike it looked perfect.

"You look really good", he told the girl, smiling shyly before concentrating back on the road.

El smiled widely due to the compliment. "You look really good, too", she said, causing him to blush. 

Lucas, Dustin, and Will pretended like they hadn't heard them and begun to talk about the new subjects and teachers they would have.

"T-thanks", Mike stuttered. "Um... Are you nervous? About school?"

He heard a deep sigh. "Yes."

Mike glanced at El again, noticing the now furrowed eyebrows on her face, while she kept her eyes on the road. "It'll be okay", he told her. 

"I hope", she nodded, before offering him a small smile.

 

They locked their bikes to the side of the school building. El kept close to the boys while she waited for them, having been faster with the lock, eyeing every passing schooler curiously. She was beginning to feel even weirder than she had felt before, like a lump was settling itself on the pit of her stomach. Her hands were sweaty, and she tried to wipe them to her shorts.

"El!", Max yelled, gaining their attention. She stopped right before her friend and pulled the girl into one armed embrace, with the skateboard in her other hand. "I'm so, so, so happy!"

"I'm nervous", El confessed, as they walked towards the gym doors and their morning assembly.

"Why?", Max asked. 

The boys walked behind the two, talking amongst themselves.

"Too much people."

Max turned to look at the girl, only then noticing the discomfort on her face. El's eyes were wide and her lips pursed shut, as she kept glancing at everything around them. 

"Hey", Max said, linking their hands. "We'll do this, together. And the boys, they are right behind us, see?", she reminded her, motioning behind them.

El glanced behind and nodded, but still didn't look as confident as she usually did.

They took the back row seats, Max sitting so that El was between her and Mike. She didn't want to put El next to a complete stranger, with her apparent anxiety and all. She wasn't that stupid.

 

Mike watched the filling gym, before turning to the girl by his side. 

El bounced her leg nervously, her face not showing any emotion whatsoever as she watched everything that was going on around them. Kids changing stories about their summer trips and such, some suddenly squealing or shouting something... It was a mess and she couldn't fully concentrate on anything. 

Feeling the need to do something, Mike leaned a little closer to her. "It's fine", he promised in a low voice. "It's not like this all the time, but you'll get used to it."

She locked her eyes with his, breathing out slowly before breathing in. It was something Jim had taught her to do, for her to calm down after a nightmare or a sudden anxiety attack.

Will leaned forward from Mike's other side, looking worriedly at her. _If you want to go, we can go, okay?_ , he pushed the thought to her. 

_I don't need to leave, I can do this_ , El told him strongly - but at the same time accidentally send over her panic, not being able to leave her feelings out.

"Hold her hand", Will nudged Mike, causing the boy to blush.

"H-huh?", Mike glanced at him, embarrassed. "Here?", he added, glancing around them.

"She needs to calm down", his friend explained in a hushed whisper. "Do it or switch seats with me", the boy added. "And she likes Max, but she knows you better. Just do it, okay?"

And Mike turned back to the girl by his side, before offering his hand to her. After seeing it she took it immediately, lacing their fingers and gripping on tight. 

He immediately felt bad, for not doing it right away after seeing her discomfort. He just... Mike looked down at their joined hands, guilt slowly creeping up on him. 

She still had a chance, while he didn't. He would always be the nerd from the AV club, and would remain as frog face to some people who happened to like the nickname. But she didn't deserve to suffer, regardless of what he had gone through. 

El brought her other hand to cover theirs, it too needing something to do. She heard her heartbeat in her head, and in order for it to calm down she tried to simply focus on her breathing for a while. 

After pressing every stupid thought to the back of his head, Mike was there for her again. He leaned to her side, pressing their arms together, before he begun stroking her thumb with his own.

He was stupid and selfish sometimes, and apparently the things he thought would be right weren't right for her at all. Like if she would have moved in with his family, he was quite sure that his parents wouldn't have let him date her. His mother loved El, a lot, and she probably would have adopted her the same way that Joyce and Jim had.

And if that had happened, the two of them would probably have been forced into being siblings. Even the thought made him a little angry - at himself obviously, because he had almost made it happen.

After a while, he felt how El begun to relax by his side and then leaned a little closer to him in return. She didn't let go of Mike's hand, though, and he didn't mind. 

He didn't mind at all.

 

"Is she okay?", Lucas whispered to Will, leaning closer to the boy.

Will turned his head back, from where he had been watching El and Mike, before nodding. "There's too much people and noises", he whispered, before noticing just how close they were to each other and felt a blush forming on his cheeks. "S-she's not used to it, yet", he added weakly.

"Does that help, holding his hand?", his friend questioned softly, glancing past him. 

"It does help", Will said slowly, trying to focus on their conversation instead of his friend's face.

"How did he even manage to do that? He's usually such a wimp."

"...I may have told him to switch seats, if he wouldn't do it."

Lucas let out a chuckle, grinning widely as their eyes met again. "Yeah? Normally brothers chase boys away from their sisters, but you're doing the opposite."

Will shrugged with a smile, turning his gaze to the front just as the principal entered the room. 

"I'm jealous."

Eyes widening, Will turned back to his friend. "W-what?", he breathed out, thinking he must have heard wrong.

"Um, no--", Lucas begun, opening his mouth in shock. His face felt blazing hot. "I mean, y-you know, jealous of how well you know each other... Like, you would've hold her hand, right here, just to make her feel better", he couldn't form a completely correct sentence, no matter how hard his brain worked, as he was hurriedly whispering the words out.

"Y-yeah." A part of Will was disappointed after hearing the explanation, and realizing the cause of the feeling didn't make him feel better, either. 

"That's great, you know...", Lucas murmured, tearing his gaze away embarrassedly. "Not all have that, the same kind of friendship. Or a sibling who's that close."

Will was quite sure that somewhere in a parallel universe, there was a Will who used this exact moment to take a hold of his friend's hand without it causing a storm in their lives. But he fiddled with his clammy hands instead, and turned to face the front. 

"Yeah", he agreed softly. "I guess you're right." 

 

They were all in the same class, which cheered El up as they made their way to their homeroom for further info. Being among the first ones there, they took seats beside the windows and at the back: Will, El, and Max in the last row and Dustin, Mike, and Lucas before them.

The three boys turned around so that they could talk to their friends, as they waited for the rest of the class to arrive.

"We're getting our schedules", Lucas told El, gaining a nod from the girl, "a lot of papers, I guess, and a lot of information."

"It's the first day, so we won't have any real classes", Mike continued. He then noticed the disappointed look on El's face and chuckled. "The classes start tomorrow, don't worry."

"El!", a cheery voice startled them, and the group turned to Jennifer Hayes. "We're in the same class, how fun!"

"Hi", El smiled back.

"How did your summer go?", Jennifer asked, ignoring her friends who had begun calling her.

"Well, good", El answered, not completely sure what she was supposed to say. "How did yours... go?"

"Oh, I don't know. I went to a camp, like every summer", Jennifer smiled at her a little.

"Jennifer!", one of her friends yelled then, making the girl in question briefly look behind herself.

"I'll catch up with you later, okay?", the girl confirmed, smiling apologetically at El. She offered a small smile to Max and the boys, too.

"Yes", El nodded, before glancing at the girls on the other side of the classroom. They stared at her, and none of them looked happy. 

Once Jennifer had sat down with her friends, Dustin sighed. "I'm still not used to that."

"Yeah, that's weird", Lucas nodded in agreement, after turning his head away from the group of girls on the other side of the room.

"What?", El asked, curious.

"How she's that nice, when her friends are...well, what they are", Will said as he glanced at the girls, too, before looking around the whole room. 

Troy and James entered the classroom at that exact moment, causing him to tense up. El from his side noticed it, immediately turning to the direction he had been looking at. 

The two boys sat down at the other side of the room, as far back as they could.

El stared at them, her face blank, until Troy locked his eyes with hers for a few seconds from across the room. He then looked at all the six of them, gaze stopping to Max on El's side.

"Hey redhead", James called, "I think you're in the wrong place, ", he told Max, effectively gaining the attention of the whole class at the same time.

"Am not", Max drawled out, leaning back in her chair.

"You sure about that?", James asked.

Letting out a snort, Max glanced at Troy. James couldn't really do anything, without Troy's permission. But the other boy kept quiet, leaning back in his chair and simply listening to them.

A clap of hands from the front startled the whole class, making everyone face the board. 

"Good morning!", a woman said, smiling at them. "And welcome. I'm your homeroom teacher, Mrs Owens." She took a paper into her hand, glancing at it. "I'm going to start with a roll call, after which we could take some time to get to know each other a little. How does that sound? It helps me to remember your names better, too."

El looked around the other pupils, who mumbled something back, before glancing at Max who looked bored. She turned to look at Will next, who fiddled with his hands on the desk.

One by one, everyone raised their hands when called.

Everyone turned to stare at El when they heard the name Hopper, and she raised her hand shyly. 

 

They pushed the desks aside and formed a circle with their chairs. 

El sat between Will and Dustin, and eyed the other teens curiously now that they weren't all staring at her anymore.

Everyone told things about themselves - their name, favorite color, hobby, and such. So when it was El's turn, she thought that she could just do the same. 

"El Hopper, pink, reading", she got out, waiting for the turn to pass. 

She didn't really have a hobby, as the others listed sports and stuff. Mike had said reading as his, so maybe it could count as hers, too. She did read quite much.

"Did you just move here?", one of Jennifer's friends asked. Nora, if she remembered correctly.

"Last November", El answered, starting to get a little nervous as everyone stared at her. No one had asked anything from anyone, before her turn. She didn't like it.

"Where did you move from?", Mrs Owens asked, encouragingly smiling at her.

"Sweden."

The room immediately filled with hushed whispers. 

El glanced at Mike, who sat a few seats away from her. He offered her a small and shy smile. She hoped that she could talk with him, through their minds. She was resisting the urge to get up and go to him, and instead fiddled with her bracelet in defeat. 

"Oh, wow", the teacher smiled, surprised. "Would you mind speaking a few words of Swedish for us? I don't think anyone here has heard it before."

Will turned to El, alarmed, but she remained calm.

"Vad vill du att jag ska säga?" The words came out of her mouth fluently, sounding weird to everyone in the room. They sounded weird to her too. She wasn't even sure if she got them right.

Most of the kids looked at her in awe, including her own friends. The soft, surprised chuckle she heard Mike let out... It caused her to smile, and she felt how her cheeks warmed up as she glanced at him.

The turn passed on to Dustin, after a few seconds, and El sighed from relief.

 _Had you practiced that?_ , Will asked, and she could feel his surprise.

 _Some of it_ , she glanced at him briefly, smiling a little.

_What did it mean?_

_I asked what she wanted me to say._

Will felt a smile tug at his lips, too.

 

After putting the desks back, they got their schedules. Will immediately leaned in to compare his with El's, anxious to know if they would share a lot of classes or not. 

"You got into English!", he cheered, causing her to frown at the paper in confusion. He pointed at the right spot from the schedule, and after seeing it herself El broke into a wide smile.

"She did?", Mike turned around with his schedule, the rest of their friends doing the same.

"Yes", she breathed out happily, eyeing the other classes she would have.

"We share everything", Max noted with a pleased grin.

"Good", El beamed, before turning to look at the boys' schedules.

"I'm on different math class...", Mike frowned, comparing their papers, "and Lucas, you're with me."

"Shit", Lucas muttered, before he sighed. "I thought I'd get to be in the same one with Dustin."

"There are different math classes?", Max questioned, comparing the schedules sharply before relaxing again. "We're still in the same class..."

"How come both Dustin and El are in the same one?", Lucas wondered. "If we'd have another one of them..."

"And why is Will in the same one with them?", Mike continued.

"Pure luck", Lucas shook his head.

"Could they be divided on alphabetical order?", Dustin suggested.

"Byers, Cardona, Henderson, Hopper", Max listed, before pointing at the two boys left, "Sinclair and Wheeler." 

"Clearly alphabetical", Lucas frowned at her, "and not fair."

"I'm confused", El got out slowly, eyeing her friends. "Why is Will lucky?"

"You both are good in math", Will told her, "and they need help. And I need help."

El furrowed her eyebrows at him, then at Mike and Lucas. "I can help you, after school", she promised the boys, who smiled back at her gratefully.

 

The rest of the day went by fast. They were told about different principles and rules, shown around the school, and also got introduced to places like the school library. When they went to visit the football field, which was the last of the places, Lucas told El about the sport that he had thought about trying into. 

Max stood closer to the field with Dustin, the two talking about the teams they supported. El and Lucas stood a little behind them, Will and Mike by their side.

"Do they take girls in the team?", El asked slowly, watching the field before them. 

Mike and Will turned to her, both of them surprised. 

"I don't know, maybe", Lucas shrugged, eyeing her with curiosity. "Are you going to the tryouts, too?"

"No", she shook her head, causing Mike and Will to relax. When she didn't continue and simply stared ahead instead, the boys followed her gaze to the other girl before them. 

Max eyed the field, her whole face lit up with excitement as she watched the ongoing practice. The players were only warming up but she watched it with interest, bouncing on her place a little.

"Max", Lucas called, causing the girl to turn to look at them. "You should try out, too."

"...What?"

"You're fast, you know", he shrugged. "It would be fun."

"And you're crazy", Max chuckled, turning back to the field. "...They don't have girls on their team."

"You could be the first and break that rule", Dustin suggested. "That would be awesome."

"Yeah", Max sighed.

"You should do it", El encouraged her friend, coming to her other side. "I will come to see your every game."

"What about me?", Lucas huffed, taking a hold of El's shoulders from behind.

"If you're on the team, I can't watch only Max's game", she pointed out. "I was coming to your games, already."

"Good", he laughed, watching the field over her shoulder. "The tryouts are on Friday."

"This Friday?", Max asked, eyes wide. "Okay, okay...I can do it."

"You can", El said calmly. "And I will be there, too."

Those were the only words Max needed to hear, to make her decision.

 

"I want ice cream", El declared after her first school day, just when they had reached their bikes.

"No, El...", Dustin huffed. "Now I want some, too."

She turned to him, excited. "Yes?"

"Yeah", the boy sighed. "Do you do that on purpose, every time? I swear to god...", he trailed off, rubbing his face in frustration.

"Don't we have it at home?", Will wondered, already opening the lock of his bike.

Meanwhile the rest stared at El, amused because of the guilty look on her face. She stared at her shoes, before casting a glance at her brother. "...No?"

"We don't?", Will asked, turning to her before shaking his head with a grin. "Oh, come on. You're hopeless, El... Mom just bought some."

Mike couldn't help the laugh that escaped him, as he watched the guilty look on El's face turn into an ashamed one. It was too cute for him to ignore.

"You do realize, that you'll have to pay for her sweets for the rest of your life, right?", Lucas asked with a chuckle, nudging his arm.

Blushing, Mike shrugged and glanced at El, who was already debating with Dustin and Max about where they should go. "I don't mind...", he begun, but trailed off after the girl turned to him.

"Mike." El brushed his hand with hers, and he took a hold of it. "Share a sundae with me?"

"Um, yeah, sure", Mike got out, before his eyebrows furrowed. "...You don't want your own?"

El scrunched up her nose slightly, turning her gaze away. "I don't have enough money", she whispered after a few seconds, for only him to hear.

"I can treat you", he told her softly, fighting back a smile. "For a shared one."

The smile Mike got in return for his promise made his stomach flip. He had enough money for at least three sundaes, but he wouldn't tell El that. Besides, if they shared one now, he could take her out for another later.

 

"Are the sundaes really that big?", Lucas wondered, not really believing Max's word.

"You don't believe me?", the girl asked. She had been the one to suggest the place, and had brought the six of them into a diner further away from the town. Well "brought", as she had sat on the back of El's bike after the asphalt road had ended.

"...Maybe?", Lucas lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, you'll see after you order one and get it."

"Aren't you on a strict diet?", Dustin asked the boy, who shot him a glare in return.

"You're on a diet?", Max asked, before she threw her head back in laughter. "I think I'm dying...", she gasped a moment later, before calming down enough to straighten back up.

"It's because of the tryouts, alright?", Lucas huffed, slamming the menu on the table. "I want the banana one", he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The banana wont make it healthier", Max said under her breath, causing Dustin to chuckle by her side. She glanced at him, smirking, before the laughter caught to her too.

El, who sat on the other side of the girl, shook her head while eyeing the menu. All the talk about healthy things, what to eat and not... She didn't like it. It was something she always skipped from magazines, too. She ate food when she was hungry, and graved for ice cream when she needed something to cheer her up. It was that simple to her.

Mike watched her from the opposite side of the table, leaning his chin onto his hand, waiting for her to choose.

"I think I want a banana split, too", Will said absently.

"Yeah?", Lucas glanced at him.

"Yeah, why not. It's been a while since I've had one, anyway", Will shrugged. "Besides, I think I've had too much chocolate lately", he added under his breath, turning to smirk at his friend.

"Can't have too much chocolate ice cream", El spoke from the other side of the table, erupting amused chuckles from Will and Lucas.

"Is that what we're having?", Mike asked, causing her to look at him and shake her head. "No?"

"What do you want?", she asked instead.

"I don't know...", he got out, confused. "You can choose."

"What do you like?"

Mike shrugged, glancing at his hands which he rested on the table. "All of them, basically."

"Mike", El pressed softly, and he moved his gaze back on her. "Your favorite. What is it?"

"Vanilla, I guess", he got out, blushing under her stare. "With something on it, like strawberries, I don't know... And chocolate sauce." 

El immediately knew, that what she had just heard was something she ought to hold onto. Mike was hard like that, as he hardly wanted to talk about himself. Which was why El was left to find out the things he liked or hated on her own - and why she now smiled so widely.

Lucas moved his gaze away from the pair, turning to Will. "You know what?"

"Hm?", Will hummed, turning his gaze to meet his. He had been watching Dustin and Max, who together wondered what could be one of the biggest, but not the most expensive, sundaes on the list.

"We could share the banana split", the boy got out, just before his brain caught up with his words. 

The following seconds, as he waited for an answer, were filled with his quickening heartbeat.

"Y-yeah, sure", Will muttered, after what felt like a minute, his cheeks turning pink. "You want to?"

Lucas looked away, shyly nodding.

"Okay", Will smiled briefly, before the nervous tremble on the sides of his lips caused him to cover his mouth with a hand.

"Cool."

"...Cool."

 

"It's so pretty", El beamed at their shared sundae, briefly glancing at Will's and Lucas' shared one too. But theirs were a lot prettier, in her opinion.

"Take everything to your spoon", Mike told her, excited on her behalf. "Ice cream, whipped cream, the sauce and a strawberry piece - everything."

He helped her with his spoon, before he did the same and scooped up a little bit of everything at the same time.

"It's good", she gushed softly after the first taste, turning her surprised eyes on him.

Mike slid his hand over the table to take a hold of hers, and she gave his hand a squeeze. 

Just like on their first date.

He didn't even mind using his left hand again. He must have got better at it, already.

 

"How can we ever finish these?", Dustin chuckled, after his and Max's ice creams had finally arrived. 

"Those are enormous", El said slowly, after she had briefly looked away from Mike and their dessert. 

"Enormous?", Lucas questioned with a grin, getting the girl's attention. "You know some big words, El."

She scrunched up her nose at him, before looking at Mike.

"It was the right one", the boy hurried to say, after seeing her questioning look. "You used it right."

El nodded, a small smile playing on her face, before she took another spoonful of ice cream.

"Up for a challenge?", Max smirked at the boy next to her, waving her spoon in the air between them.

Dustin shook his head with a grin. "You can't beat me, Max."

"You sure--?"

"Can't beat me."

"You just complained about how huge they are", Lucas pointed out, before hitting Will's spoon with his. "That's my pineapple."

"No it's not", Will chuckled, glancing at him with amusement. "You ate yours, already."

"I saved one for later", his friend argued.

"Fine. I'll let you have it this time."

Lucas glanced at his friend, suddenly feeling shy. "...Yeah?"

Will nodded, dropping the pineapple piece to the other boy's spoon. "Here, see?", he smiled, before turning back to the ice cream.

"This time?", Lucas murmured, still looking at Will and resting his spoon on the edge of the bowl. "You're going to share another sundae with me?", he whispered, watching how his friend blushed even more.

He couldn't help it - it was like his brain and heart worked in different wavelengths. And now that his brain had caught up with his heart, Lucas tingled from inside. 

It was a nervous tingle. One that made your heartbeat quicken and your hands clammy. One that filled your lungs with the hope that you hadn't messed up.

Biting his lip Will shrugged, before he and Lucas both glanced at the other four people at the table. 

Mike and El were busy staring at each other, like they were the only two people in the world, their legs tangled together under the table where no one saw.

Dustin and Max sat side by side, at the moment arguing who was the ultimate enemy in all the comics they had read, while both made sure to eat fast enough so that they would be able to finish their bowls before feeling full. 

So even though they sat at the same table with their friends, they both knew that no one paid any attention to them. 

"Because, you know, we could", Lucas said, waiting intently for the other boy's reaction who still looked away.

Will swallowed, before he hummed softly with a small smile on his face. "Is it because of the diet?"

Lucas opened his mouth, before closing it and turning to stare at the pineapple piece still on his spoon. "...Sure", he got out in a huff.

"Huh?"

"It's because of the diet." Lucas grimaced inwardly, before taking ice cream to his spoon too, and took some time afterwards by simply letting it melt on his tongue. 

And Will, who knew just how important the tryouts were, after having been there for his friend through the summer and witnessed the training, nodded. 

"Sure", he said softly, after a long silence between the two of them. "As many times as you need, we can share."

Lucas blushed hard, feeling the need to squirm in his seat due to the butterflies in his stomach. It had been happening more and more, by every passing day, after the camping trip. 

"Thanks", he whispered.

He sometimes made the mistake of glancing at Will's lips, and he still couldn't put into words the feelings that surfaced every time after doing so. But he needed to touch him and the need was getting quite bad, especially after suppressing it for so long. 

So, Lucas innocently moved his leg to lean it against the other boy's. And he felt Will tense by his side immediately after doing so. 

He was about to pull away, before he felt how Will's leg brushed together with his. Their shoes settled side by side, while their knees touched and the warmth of their legs mingled.

They stayed like that through the rest of their time in the diner, both of them scared to move away or comment the things happening under the table in any way.

Neither of them knew when it would happen again.


	33. Tougher than a diamond, rich like cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. You guys are the best.

**Tougher than a diamond, rich like cream**

 

It was a rough week, El getting accustomed to school life. Being around so many people on daily basis was exhausting. Some of them shouted without any reason whatsoever, others stared at her and her friends - and a fraction of them did both of the things she didn't like. 

Still, school was something she had waited for a long time. And she liked the weirdest things about it.

Will noticed how El put her backpack ready in the evening with a small smile and how slowly she packed her lunch in the morning, taking time to really think about it. 

Mike watched with a smile at the way she took notes and did her homework, them being very organized and neat. And definitely colorful.

Max took in her clothes everyday and how she always looked her best. And when her friend had wore the pink cap on her second school day, she had grinned widely.

Lucas liked sitting with her in class, as she always listened to the teacher and concentrated the best she could. Besides, she took notes at such a fast speed that even on their history class she got them all up. Which was amazing, and really helpful to all of her friends, too. 

And between the classes El relaxed and let Dustin goof around as much as he wanted, cheering them all up by doing so, the girl occasionally joining in the fun.

 

"We have math next", Lucas groaned, as they walked out of their science class.

"That's right!", Dustin exclaimed, turning to El with a grin. "You want a ride?"

"A ride?", she asked, her eyebrows high.

"A piggyback ride."

"We should race!", Max said excitedly, turning to the boy. "You take Will and I'll take El, okay?"

"What is a piggyback ride?", El asked confusedly, looking at her friends.

"The way someone carries you on their back", Mike explained, smiling at the look on her face.

"A piggy?", she questioned him softly, eyebrows raised. "A pig?"

Chuckling, the boy nodded. "Yeah, a piggy."

"...Oh", El scrunched up her nose a little. "Like a cat and a kitty?"

"I guess so...", Mike got out slowly. "Piggy is like a small pig, so yeah."

El nodded in acceptance, the two of them oblivious to the fact that their friends had been listening to their conversation and currently tried not to laugh.

"So, we'll race to class?", Dustin confirmed, turning to look at Max again. "I'll take Will?"

"No way, I'm not in this", Will said, lifting his hands before him as he shook his head.

"You are", El said as she went to Max and took her backpack, putting it over her own.

"Yes! I'll finally get to use this", Max cheered, lowering herself a little so her friend could jump on her back. "Hop on, Hopper!", she said with a laugh.

The boys laughed along, their group emitting such a loud noise that they gained a few long looks from the people around them.

But El complied with a grin and Max took a secure hold of her legs, while she took a better hold of her friend's shoulders. Fortunately she hadn't chosen a skirt in the morning. 

"Come on, Will", Lucas hurried.

With a final roll of his eyes, Will sighed. "Fine", he said in defeat, before jumping to Dustin's back. But he smiled when El reached over to gently push his shoulder.

"Three, two, one", Mike counted, grinning. "Go!"

The two boys watched Max and Dustin run away as fast as they could, before their friends disappeared around the corner.

"We'll know who won at lunch", Lucas shrugged, before turning around to head to their classroom.

Mike walked by him, the grin staying on his face. "Let's just hope they won't get detention."

It was actually quite nice, sharing a class with just the two of them. 

It had been just them at first, when they were little, then Dustin and Will had came along. Then they had literally _found_ El, who had changed his life to a point were there was no return. Not for him. And lastly Max, who probably hung out with them because of El. Not that they minded though, the girl was cool in her own weird ways.

They loved their friends and wouldn't ever change them, but there were some things that only the two of them liked or understood. So, even though they didn't have Dustin or El to help them out with their math problems, they enjoyed their class to their fullest.

Besides, Mike had kind of liked the one time after school when El had helped him with his math homework. Honestly, she had no idea how to teach the things she knew, or the way she understood them, but she would learn to do so. Mike was in the middle of teaching her how to teach him, and it was going a lot better than what it sounded like.

 

"We won!", Max declared. She was the first to sit down at lunch, at the table where Mike and Lucas already were eating.

"Of course", Lucas rolled his eyes. 

"You wouldn't have, if they would've moved aside faster", Dustin added, gaining a shove from Max after he had sat down next to her.

"You keep telling yourself that, okay?", the girl chuckled. "But El and Will both know the real winner. And that's us."

El sat down to Mike's side, glancing at his lunch. "Peanut butter?"

"Yeah", he nodded, while eating his cut up fruits first, glancing at her sandwich. "You, too", he grinned, before confusedly taking a closer look. "Is that jam?"

The girl glanced at her bread, before turning back to him. "Marmalade."

"She puts apricot marmalade in hers", Will said offhandedly, before taking a sip of his juice.

"Really?", Max frowned, gaining a nod from the boy as an answer.

"But... Why?", Lucas asked, looking horrified.

"It's good", El said slowly, glancing at her friends.

"It's fine", Will corrected her with a grin, before he dug into his own lunch. 

"I didn't even think about putting anything else in, except berry", Dustin said, looking a little weirded out by the idea.

"You can imagine how shocked I was, when she made one for me", Will chuckled. "I thought it was a regular one."

"It's good", El repeated, her eyebrows now slightly furrowed.

"Can I try it?", Mike asked, not wanting her to feel too bad. The look on her face after his words was worth it, even if it would taste horrible. 

"Yes", she said with a nod, and he lifted up her bread to take a careful bite of it.

They all waited, eyes on Mike, as he slowly chewed the piece. He smiled at their faces, before turning to El after swallowing. 

"It's good", he said. "Better than I thought."

And El smiled smugly after his words, her expression causing their whole table to burst out in laughter.

Mike's sandwich didn't taste even nearly as good as hers, afterwards.

 

"I don't know if I can do it tomorrow", Max blurted out suddenly, as she walked between Dustin and Lucas to their next class. "The tryouts."

Their three friends walked ahead of them and she had heard something about the one ring, before her interest to their conversation had dropped. Nerds.

"Of course you can", Lucas snorted.

"Why couldn't you?", Dustin glanced at her in wonder. "You were so excited, even yesterday."

Max frowned. "Maybe I don't want it that much."

"Really?", Dustin asked, not really believing her sudden change of mind.

The girl shrugged, keeping her gaze ahead of them.

"That's bullshit", Lucas said suddenly, startling the other two.

"Excuse me?", Max turned to him, her eyebrows high.

"That's just an excuse and you know it."

"What the hell, Sinclair?"

"Not cool, Lucas", Dustin chimed in, feeling the need to say something.

"You know you want to do it, so why won't you let yourself?", Lucas asked, ignoring the two.

"What do you know about the things I want?", Max drawled, trying to keep her voice down.

"Maybe I don't, but she does", the boy pointed at El's back. "She knew."

Max turned her gaze on her friend, blue eyes widening. "...She knew?"

"Yeah. So why won't you do it?", Lucas asked again. "If that's what you want, why not do it?"

Keeping her eyes on El she shrugged again, only slower this time.

"Just...", Lucas muttered, trailing off.

"Think about it", Dustin suggested to her gently.

"Yeah", Max nodded, offering him a small smile. Then she smirked. "You guys just want to see me fail, right?"

Dustin chuckled, shaking his head. "No! That's not it."

"If you weren't so scary, yeah why not?", Lucas sniggered, gaining a swat to his arm. "See? That's what I mean. Who knows where you'd hit me then?", he huffed, dodging out of the way when Max tried to hit him again.

 

On Friday, Dustin, El, Mike, and Will sat down on the bleachers after school. Lucas' and Max's tryouts would soon begin, and they wanted to be there to support them.

There were other groups, too - boys most likely supporting their friends, and girls watching the boys on the field while giggling loudly. 

"She's the only girl", Dustin said as he narrowed his eyes, staring down to the field.

"She will be fine", El told him. She had a soft smile playing on her lips, as she glanced at the boy.

"I know, I know", he nodded, while drumming his legs a little.

They boys kept their eyes on their friends, while El's travelled to a group of girls on the side of the field and below the bleachers. She watched them for a few minutes, confused of what they were doing.

"What are they doing?", she asked after a while. "Those girls?"

"Who?", Mike asked, looking around.

"Oh, you mean the cheerleaders?", Will asked from Mike's other side.

El scrunched up her nose in thought. "I think?"

"The one's over there?", Dustin asked, pointing below them.

"Yes."

"Yeah, cheerleaders", he nodded.

"They cheer the team, as they play", Mike told her.

"...How?"

"They, I don't know, dance and shout, I guess", he shrugged. He had never really paid any attention to them.

El nodded and Mike smiled at her, as the girl continued to watch the cheerleaders' practice. There were so many things she was fascinated by, that it was almost unbelievable. 

 

The tryouts begun soon after and they all leaned in on their spots, watching how both Lucas and Max performed.

Lucas had gotten a little more muscular during the summer, as he had both grown and trained hard, and blended in quite easily with the rest of the guys. 

Max on the other hand was smaller compared to the players, and to the guys who tried to get into the team, and could easily be spotted at all times. But she was tough, her friends knew it.

When the running tests begun, they were sure that both Lucas and Max had to get in. The coach kept his eyes on them and on two others, as all four kept almost the exact same pace.

 

Max felt nervous as she, Lucas, and the rest of the boys gathered around the coach. 

She wiped sweat away from her forehead, glad of the braids El had made for her and ignoring the looks she got from the boys - especially after taking of the helmet, which they all had wore. But Lucas stood by her side, grinning at her briefly before turning back to the man before them.

"Sinclair!", the coach called, gaining everyones attention. "Tight end."

Lucas' eyes widened, before he nodded. "Sure thing, coach!"

"Tell me the number you want to play later", the coach nodded to him, before moving on.

Max patted Lucas' back, exchanging a brief smile with him. 

And when she didn't hear her name after three others were called, she didn't even feel disappointed. Or maybe she did. But she had known that she wouldn't get in, so it wasn't anything new to her. 

Lucas glanced at her, before he went to the coach to tell the information he needed. 

Max went to collect her things, trying to keep her face straight. Of course they would only choose guys, how stupid of her to think otherwise. She shoved her water bottle into her bag, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"Cardona, right?"

Her eyes flew open, and she turned around to face the coach. "Yeah."

"You want this?", he asked, eyebrows furrowed. "It won't be easy, you know."

"...Seriously?" It was all Max got out, due to the surprise. Was she dreaming? Had she passed out, and it was her mind playing cruel tricks on her?

"No, I'm kidding", the man eyed her, before shaking his head. "I'm not offering a place in my team for fun. You want to play?"

And Max immediately thought about El, who had encouraged her into this and had known that it was something she wanted to do. 

"Yeah, I want to play", she got out with confidence, straightening her back.

"You were fast", the coach told her, as Lucas came to collect his things, too. "I think I could take you in. As a wide receiver."

"Wha--, really?"

"The guys won't be easy on you", the man pointed out. "You need to show them. You can do it, right?"

"I can do it", Max nodded, feeling like she could run around the world at that moment. "Thanks, coach."

"Don't thank me, just show that I didn't make a mistake. Now, tell me the number you want. We want the shirts as soon as we can get them."

 

Lucas and Max walked through the field to their friends, after taking a shower and changing their clothes.

"What happened?", Dustin shouted, when the two still were further away.

And Max started to jog, which soon turned into running, coming straight to El and wrapping her into a hug.

El almost fell over and had to steady them with her powers, before she hugged the girl back. "Did you get in?", she asked, breathless due to the tight embrace.

Max backed away a little, nodding furiously with a wide grin.

"No way!", Dustin laughed. "That's great!"

El smiled at her widely. "I knew you could do it."

"You got in, too", Will said, as Lucas came to them.

"Yeah", Lucas said slowly, before he broke into a grin, too. "I got in!", he cheered, high-fiving with his friends.

"What positions are you in?", Mike asked, gaze moving between the two.

"I'm a tight end", Lucas said, and after seeing the look on his friend's face continued: "One of the linemen, but at a receiving position, too."

"Cool", Will grinned. "That's what you wanted, right?"

Lucas stared at him, eyes cast a little down because of their height difference, before nodding slowly. "Yeah." He had no idea when he had even mentioned it, or if he had at all.

Will beamed, feeling so utterly happy and proud of his friend that he found it impossible to turn away from him. Lucas grinned back at him, before settling an arm on his shoulder and leaning to him a little.

They simultaneously turned to their friends, grins changing into shy smiles, as the conversation kept on going.

"What are you?", Dustin asked Max.

"A wide receiver", the girl chuckled. "I don't even understand how I got that spot."

"You were lucky", Lucas said, gaining her attention. "They had a few good one's last year, but now all they have are large and slow players. Blockers."

"Thanks, dude", Max frowned at him. "That made me feel really good about myself."

"I didn't mean it like that!", the boy sighed. "But the guys told me that the coach usually doesn't let anyone straight to that spot, not before seeing them play a few good games."

"Right", she nodded, still not looking convinced.

"Should we celebrate this somehow?", Dustin suggested, not wanting the two to start arguing. "Some food, maybe?"

"And ice cream! I want ice cream!", Max said immediately, linking her arm with El's.

El nodded, wide eyed. "Me too."

"You always want ice cream", Mike chuckled, looking at the girl whose eyes twinkled with excitement as she turned to him.

"It's good."

"Well, let's go", Lucas motioned their group to move, from where they stood on the field. "What food?"

"How about pizza?", Max suggested as she happily skipped ahead, getting agreeing nods from everyone. "Then ice cream?" 

"The market kind this time, please. I'm broke", Dustin added.

"Triple chocolate." 

The softly spoken words erupted chuckles from the group.

"Try something else already, El, you're a big girl. Do it for me?"

The girl glanced at him in wonder. "What do you want me to try, Dustin?"

"Anything else."

"...Okay."

"I'm so proud of you", Dustin sniffed, gently patting El's head.

"Man...Are you crying?", Lucas got out, eyebrows high in wonder.

"Almost."

Mike, Will, and Max simply laughed at the three of them, not really sure what to say.

"She's not a baby, Dustin, you know that", Lucas reminded tiredly.

"Look at her", his friend said and they turned to the girl, who looked back at them with her wide brown eyes. "She's growing up so fast--."

"Now I get it!", Max cheered, turning around while walking. "Dustin is the mother!"

The boys hollered in laughter, casting glances at their amused looking friend.

"And Lucas is clearly the father", the girl added as an afterthought. The laughter only increased.

"W-what? Am not!"

"You are, actually", Dustin said slowly, turning to look at his friend. "That's why you're always against me. You don't love me anymore."

"What the actual hell are you talking about?", Lucas asked him, as the rest laughed even more. 

Well, all except for El. She watched their bickering, feeling as confused as Lucas looked like.

"I want a divorce, that's what", Dustin told him, before guiding El past him with a hand on her back. "I'm a single parent, from now on!"

"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about!", Lucas shouted after him, before he turned to look at the rest of his friends. "You heard that, right?"

"Yeah", Mike chuckled. "You're a divorced man now, Mr. Sinclair."

"At least you're not a widow", Max pointed out. "And you still get to see your daughter."

"Wait", Will begun, turning to Lucas with wide and innocent eyes. "So, you're my dad?"

Lucas shuddered at the thought. "Oh god, no." 

"But if you are her--."

"Shut up", the boy got out, muffling Will with a hand over his mouth who grinned against it.

_"Is he trying to kill our son?"_ , Dustin shouted from further away, having stopped there with El, waiting for them.

Lucas removed his hand, embarrassed, draping the arm lazily over the smaller boy's shoulders. 

Will glanced at him as they continued forward. 

Neither of them could help the blushes that graced their faces, nor the happiness that bubbled inside them. Of course Lucas would have to drop the hand at some point, knowing well enough that not many walked with their friends like that. 

But for another ten seconds he kept it there, feeling quite content and enjoying the closeness while it lasted.

 

Weeks passed by quickly, as everyones lives got on tracks. 

Jonathan and Nancy left to New York together, leaving empty spaces behind into two separate homes. And while their families missed their absent members, El missed the both of them. Being apart from two important people at the same time didn't feel good. It didn't take her more than a week to call after her big brother, asking when she would see the two the next time.

And high school was hard, mostly mentally. And sometimes weird, too. Like, really weird.

Troy and James, including the rest of their gang, hadn't made a move towards their group of friends - not since school begun. They still called them names and started rumors, but there hadn't been even a single fight or confrontation during the first month.

Well, some things about them had changed - quite fast actually.

Lucas and Max were both on the football team, and the team got respect from everyone. 

They got invited to outings and for pizza after practice, stuff like that. And while they liked it, they loved hanging out with their own friends even more. So they usually went with their team for a few hours tops, before meeting their friends and getting away from all the weirdness and bad jokes.

The whole school also knew that Billy and Max were in fact somewhat related, after an episode in the cafeteria on the second week of school.

Max had been eating, when Billy had came over and taken her into a tight headlock. She had punched him in shock, making his lip bleed and nearby teachers to rush over. The older teen had then declared, rather loudly, that it was a sibling thing and told everyone not to worry.

And as many in the school thought that Billy was like straight from a teen's magazine, with his looks and bad boy attitude, they had immediately taken a liking to Max, too.

She hated it. Being somehow connected to him.

 

But if there were something that Max hated even more than her stepbrother, it was Jennifer Hayes' friends who tried to get El into their group of bimbos. 

She had nothing against Jennifer, but her friends... Jesus.

"They must've been dropped to the floor, after birth", Max said as she sat down with the boys for lunch, after El had been dragged away by the giggling girl gang. "They all have a serious brain damage, I swear."

Dustin and Lucas chuckled, gaining an annoyed glance from the girl at their table.

"I don't think El's enjoying them, either", Will said, as he looked at the girls a couple tables away. 

El had a small smile on her face, a friendly one, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"She's only there for Jennifer", Mike agreed, him too frowning a little.

"Why?", Max asked, leaning on her hand.

"She helped El with English", Will told her. "I think they became some kind of friends."

"But Jennifer seems to be nice", Lucas said in thought, "she just, you know, doesn't have the heart to get rid of her stupid friends..."

Max sighed deeply, and Mike was sure he knew how she felt. 

He turned to look at El once more, this time meeting her gaze. She offered him a brief grin. Mike chuckled, beaming fondly at her.

Will laughed so suddenly that he startled everyone at the table. 

"El told me, to tell you", the boy begun, chuckling in the between, "that they're talking about how..." He stopped and covered his mouth, as he laughed so much that he couldn't continue. 

At the other table, El felt his laughter in her head and had to look away from the other girls.

Lucas, Dustin, Max, and Mike stared at their friend, eyes wide and all of them amused, waiting for him to continue.

"What?", Dustin asked impatiently, waving his hands in the air.

"How _socks_ are good... to fill... _bras_ ", Will got out in an almost whisper, before covering his now red face and laughing against his hands. 

"WHAT?", Max exclaimed, and then laughed loudly as she turned to look at the girls' table again.

Lucas and Dustin howled with laughter, while Mike turned his amused eyes back to El. She leaned on her hand, and looked back at him with a smile playing on her lips. 

"How can anyone trust girls after that?", Dustin chuckled. "I mean, come on!"

"It's a trap", Lucas said with a wide grin, causing Will to laugh even more.

"Ass", Max laughed, nudging Dustin. "Find the right kind of girl."

"Yeah", Mike agreed softly, staring at El across the room with a grin.

"Aw, Wheeler", Lucas sniggered, gaining the boy's attention. "You have these little, red hearts--."

Mike blushed. "Stop it!"

"--where your eyes should be--."

"Knock it off!", the boy chuckled embarrassedly, throwing an apple at his friend.

Lucas dodged it, looking offended. "I'm just stating the facts, buddy."

"Don't." 

 

Mike grinned through the rest of the lunch anyway, despite the teasing. But he grinned even wider when El decided to come sit with them for the last ten minutes, dragging a chair next to him.

"How was it?", Dustin asked her, fighting back a chuckle.

"Okay", she answered dully, before leaning her head on Mike's shoulder.

"...The sock thing was something else, huh."

El let out a sigh, casting her eyes onto the table. "That was stupid."

"Do girls do that a lot?", Max asked her, gaining weird looks from the boys. "I don't know!"

"How do you think she knows?", Lucas pointed out, motioning towards El.

"...I don't know that, either", Max mumbled, feeling more confused than before.

"They do it because they think they have to", El said, gaining her friends' attention before she frowned. "I feel bad. It sounded stupid, yes..."

"But it was actually sad, too", Dustin's eyebrows furrowed.

El nodded, head rubbing against Mike's shoulder who glanced at her. She stared at the table before them, blinking slowly.

"Are you tired?", Mike asked softly, gaining a shrug from the girl in return. "What are you thinking about?"

She pointed at his carrot sticks, which he hadn't finished. "Are you going to eat them?"

"You want them?", he chuckled.

"...Yes", El spoke up softly.

Mike moved the container before her, smiling from ear to ear.


	34. I got nine lives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I'm not seriously one to complain, but I read a few things that even made me postpone uploading the next chapter and think hard about the next ones coming. 
> 
> In fanfiction the author uses the ready characters and settings to create a story of their own, which is the whole point. So please, no author/story bashing ONLINE where anyone can see them. Even the author themselves.

**I got nine lives**

 

One of Mike's favorite days were the ones when he got to spend some time alone with El. 

He still wasn't used to the fact that she was his girlfriend. It was too...surreal. That was probably the right word. Too great to be true. He simply avoided labeling her and them, even if he was asked about their relationship.

His mother, for example, was one of the most persistent ones. 

But it was a good strategy in a way, because they weren't really watched after when they hung out at his house. That was also why he got to adore the scene of El napping on _his_ bed, curled up while hugging _his_ pillow, on one rainy day after school.

They had reached his house when already soaked wet and Mike had happily given her some clothes from his closet, before going to the bathroom himself to change.

He had then gone to fetch a book from the basement, where he had left it the other night, and stopped by the kitchen to get them a plate stacked with eggos on his way back. He had seriously been gone for only a few minutes, and when he returned he stopped to the doorway with a goofy grin on his face. 

It was too cute. He kind of hoped he had a camera, even though it would have probably been creepy to take pictures of her while she was sleeping. But still. He should probably get a job on the next summer to afford one.

Placing the book and the plate on his desk, he went to sit on the edge of his bed.

"El?", he whispered.

She scrunched up her nose a little, before burying it into the pillow she hugged. He had never seen her look that cute, and the fact that she was wearing his shirt and sweatpants made him even giddier. 

Mike shyly brought a hand to the girl's hair and tucked a few damp strands behind her ear, away from her face. He glanced at the slightly dark circles under her eyes, feeling a tug at his heart. He knew how hard she worked, at school and at home, and knew that he should let her rest.

He got up with a soft sigh and headed towards his desk, deciding to do at least his math homework while she slept. Helping him was an extra task which she really didn't need.

"Mike?"

Immediately after hearing her soft voice, he turned around. El looked at him, eyes barely open and eyebrows furrowed.

"You can sleep", Mike whispered. "I'll wake you up, before dinner, okay?"

But instead of closing her eyes, she reached out to him with a hand and dropped it onto the bed sleepily after a few seconds. "Stay?"

"Y-you want me to?", he got out, blushing at the thought, and then watched how El made room for him on his tiny bed. She put the pillow back to its original place and then looked at him, waiting for him to make the next move.

Mike settled down to the bed, laying his head on the pillow she had placed there for him, and swallowed as he turned to face her. El pulled at the arm he had slid under the pillow, and he straightened it while watching her confusedly. 

She settled her head on it before scurrying as close to him as possible, hiding her face to his chest. Holding his breath Mike wrapped his free arm around her, trying to ignore his quickening heartbeat and the fact that El, no doubt, heard it.

He felt her hands on his shirt, gently fisting the material. They twitched a little, every now and then. It didn't take long for her breathing to calm down and her to be back asleep.

Which left a blushing Mike alone with his thoughts, hugging her and afraid to fall asleep in case someone came upstairs. Slowly he twisted his arm, which was under her head, to bring his hand to her hair.

And as soon as his fingers had tangled with the brown curls, El sighed and tilted her head up. She then slowly nuzzled her nose against his neck, before contently settling there.

Mike was quite sure that he would burn to ashes due to blushing too hard, if she did something like that again. 

 

He glanced at the clock on his bedside table, knowing that they would be called for dinner any minute now. El was still cuddled against him, having slept for an hour like that. 

And Mike felt hot. He had made the mistake of also putting on a hoodie and not just a shirt, while the girl in his arms had been wise enough to do so. He glanced at her bare arm, before taking another look at it.

He brushed a finger over her skin gently, feeling the bumps of faded scars. El immediately jerked awake and he pulled his hand away, feeling guilty.

"I-I'm sorry", he whispered.

"Hm?", she hummed softly, looking up at him in wonder.

"I just hadn't noticed them before", Mike explained. "Those scars."

"What scars?", El asked, slightly furrowing her eyebrows at him.

"The...The ones on your arm", he got out. "Where did you get them?"

El stared at him for a few seconds, before her eyes widened. "Mike...", she whispered, shaking her head a little.

It was a no. 'Please don't ask'. But he had to.

And Mike wasn't sure afterwards what he beat himself up more: asking in the first place, or not noticing the scars sooner.

 

Their good luck had continued for a long time, so it felt somehow reasonable that something unpleasant would come around the corner. But none of them had assumed just how soon it would happen.

El moved from where she had been sitting next to Max, to the other side of the room. Dustin gave her shoulder a pat as she passed him, the boy too changing places. She glanced at the board just to check once again, hoping that the pairs for their biology work had been a joke. Or that she had read wrong, no matter how skilled reader she was. 

But with a heavy sigh she sat down next to Troy, dropping her things on the table before her. Better her though, than any of the boys or Max.

Troy didn't say anything and she didn't even bother to turn to look at him. They got the instructions and then the teacher gave them time to plan, to get somewhat started during the rest of the class.

With her arms crossed over her chest, El turned her head a little to the side to look at Troy.

The boy stared at her in return, leaning back in his chair.

"What?", El asked, her voice warning.

"Nothing", Troy huffed. "You coming to my house? To get this done?"

She stared at him for a while, trying to figure out if everything about that exact hour and class was a joke. Her getting paired with him, and now this too. "No."

"I'm not going to yours, either. Not with the chief, and...all", the boy trailed off, glancing at the teacher.

"I wouldn't let you in, if you wanted."

Troy's blank face turned into a sneer. "We need to get this done, with a good grade, too."

"Why do you care?", El asked, as she turned to look at the board and begun copying the instructions. The habit of writing every possible thing down was now stuck on her, and it actually calmed her down in some situations - like in the one she was at the moment. 

"I don't", Troy answered fast, his voice low. He was starting to get annoyed, she knew it. "Where do you want to do this, then?"

"In the library", she stated, after thinking about it for a few seconds.

"Why?"

"Because the books are there."

"...You think I'm an idiot?"

"Yes."

Troy huffed, crossing his arms. "I need the good grade. Let's just get this done."

"Why?", El asked, glancing at him. "Why do you need the grade?"

"That's none of your business", the boy spat. "When can you do this?"

El thought how long she could possibly postpone it, but even the idea made her feel worse about it. "Today?", she suggested, struggling not to frown as their teacher passed them by.

Troy turned away from her, slumping back in his chair. "Fine. Meet me in the library. Right after school."

 

After their last class on the same day, El got up from her desk with a sigh and packed her things as slowly as possible. Will watched her worriedly, as he waited for her by their desks.

"It'll be fine", Max tried to assure her, once they all were in the hallway. "Besides, you'll probably get it done today."

El frowned. "But it's him."

"I know it's not fair", Lucas sighed, patting her back as they walked.

"But at the same time, you're the only one who can keep him on a leash", Dustin pointed out.

Mike made a face at the words, as they headed towards the school library where El would meet Troy. The rest of them had agreed on doing their homework there, wanting to keep an eye on the two.

"Ew, that sounds so wrong", Max pretended to gag. "Now I have a mental image of that, _oh god_..."

El scrunched up her nose, staring at the floor as they walked. 

"It's good that you don't understand", Mike said after glancing at her, gaining her attention.

"Really?", she asked, eyes a little wider than normal.

"Yeah", he nodded, feeling his face heat up under her stare. "It was a bad joke, that's all."

She nodded before offering him a small smile, one that made his stomach flip.

 

"We should probably sit a little further away", Dustin said, scratching at the back of his neck.

El didn't like the idea at all. Instead she glanced both Mike and Will, knowing that they were the most likely to give in. But this time it didn't work.

"Sorry, El", Will smiled sadly, already backing up further into the library and following Lucas, Dustin, and Max.

She turned back to Mike then, her eyes large and begging. "He's a mouth breather", she whispered to him.

It was such an honest declaration that Mike wanted nothing more than to help her, but this time he couldn't. He took her hand, something he didn't usually do in school, and caressed it gently. The touch sent a rush of tingles through the both of them.

"I'm sorry", he told her softly, "but we'll be there the whole time", he pointed at their table, "and if he's an ass, I'll come over."

"You promise?", she whispered, taking a small step closer. 

There were only a foot between them, and Mike want nothing more than to make that space disappear. He could smell the sweet scent of her perfume, and his knees felt like they could give in any second now. 

El squeezed at his hand, breaking his thoughts.

"Y-yeah", he gulped. "I promise, El."

"Thank you." She smiled, before letting go of his hand and pulling away.

 

As Mike sat down at their table, seated towards El, Troy walked in.

"We should probably do our homework", Will suggested after the others had turned to stare at the two, who were on the other side of the room. "She'll be fine."

They couldn't hear what they said, but El soon got up to fetch some books while Troy got some things out of his backpack. Then the two begun working, neither of them apparently saying anything to each other.

So, the teens at the other table begun to concentrate on their homework. 

And even Mike had the patience to wait for a minute at least, before his eyes averted to El again.

 

It had been going well, their assignment, until Troy decided to open his mouth.

"It won't take long for Max to realize you're all freaks."

"She knows you're an idiot", El told him, while searching for the answer to their next question. 

"Meaning...?", the boy huffed.

"You're not her friend", she said coldly.

"Listen", Troy growled and leaned a little closer, after the librarian cleared her throat pointedly at them. "She's not your friend, either. I don't know how you fool everyone, but you're crazy. Insane. I know that. You broke my _fucking arm_. I'm not sure _how_ , but you did--."

"With my mind", El told him before shoving the book, which she had been reading, closer to him. "Answer to question three", she pointed at the right paragraph, before taking another book from the pile she had brought to the table.

"I'll tell everyone", Troy told her, after glancing at the book. "What you did, I'll tell 'em. I'll make your life a living hell."

El had read about it, how hell was described in books. But books could be wrong, too. And while she had no idea what the boy thought hell was like, she was quite sure that she had lived through it already. But no matter how pointless the threats were, she was beginning to get annoyed. 

"Scared already?", the boy sneered at her.

"No one will believe you", she stated, trying to keep her voice even. "But everyone would know, that you're the insane one."

"They'll believe me--."

"You don't have proof. No one will believe you."

Troy grabbed the book from between them, pulling it closer. "Just wait. And enjoy your life while you can. It'll get worse soon. Freak."

El felt the prickling on her hands, and tried to concentrate on the next question on her notebook. No matter how much she hated Troy, she didn't want to deal with the consequences of squeezing his brains instead of just his bladder. 

 

Max chuckled suddenly, after an hour of concentration, causing the boys to look at her. 

"El looks so pissed", she told them, smirking at the sight.

Turning their heads to the right direction, the boys noticed that Max was right. El leaned her face on her hands, as Troy seemed to talk while writing.

"Ask her about it", Dustin said with a nudge at Will, who complied.

 _You look mad, are you okay?_ , Will asked her, causing El to lift her face up from her hands to look at them.

"What did she say?", Mike hurried the boy, noticing that something was off as he watched her. 

"Nothing yet", Will answered, brows furrowing slightly as he tried again.

"What's there to ask? Anyone would be pissed to sit with him", Max pointed out.

"Did she, I don't know, get it?", Lucas confirmed.

"Of course she did", Will nodded, "she just won't answer."

El turned her gaze away from them and onto the table. 

Mike glanced at the clock, which was half five already. They would probably be done soon. "We'll know soon enough, let's just wait until they're done."

 

They had not noticed El and Troy collecting their things, so when the girl stormed out of the library without a word it startled them. Shoving their stuff hastily into their backpacks, all five ran after her and out of the building.

"El?", Mike called.

When the five of them got to their bikes she wasn't there, but her bike was. 

Max ran to look around the corner, behind the school, the rest following closely behind. "Don't run!", she yelled, as the boys reached her and saw their friend too.

And finally, after hearing her friend, El stopped. 

She dropped her backpack to the ground, sliding it down her arm from the shoulder it had been on, her whole body trembling as she stood on her place. Her friends watched her, not sure what to do.

"What's wrong, El?", Mike asked, stopping ten feet away from her like the others did.

"I-I can't control it." 

It was barely audible, her voice, just above a whisper.

"What?", Lucas asked, taking a few steps closer along with the others.

"Me", El turned to them slowly, her brown eyes wide with fear. "Can't control me", she got out, squeezing her shaking hands into tight fists. Her knuckles were white. "Go."

And they could suddenly feel them. Her powers. 

The air became thicker, and harder to breath. Like they were being tightly wrapped into blankets - except this wasn't a nice feeling at all. It was a suffocating one. 

All of them heard it, too, the humming in their heads and the crackling of the air around them.

It was almost two years from when Mike, Lucas, and Dustin had felt it the last time. But they could never forget it, the tightness and the building pressure. They could never forget what happened afterwards, either. 

Max stood by Dustin's side, not sure what was going on. She couldn't stand watching the pain on her friend's face and wanted nothing more that to go to her, but something stopped her from moving. She glanced at the boy next to her, who had also froze to his place. 

And Will stood behind everyone, watching her with his heart at his throat. He knew that something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong, and he glanced at his friends in worry as they kept slowly shortening their distance towards El. 

"It's...it's okay, you hear me?", Mike assured her, his eyebrows knit together. It couldn't happen again, it just couldn't. "El, it's alright, I promise...", he rambled on, trying to ignore the tightness in his chest.

He couldn't lose her again.

But El backed up, shaking her head. " _G-go!_ ", she trembled, squeezing her eyes shut.

A wave went through them, like a strong wind but without the cold breeze, pushing the kids back and forcing them to take a few balancing steps in order to not fall down. 

"S-she'll lash out her powers!", Dustin warned and started backing up, Max doing the same by his side as her eyes widened in shock.

But Will, who had stood frozen on his place the whole time, pushed past his friends instead.

"WILL!", Lucas shouted and tried to catch him, but was stopped by Dustin who yanked him back by the arm.

"NO!", Mike yelled, just as their friend reached the girl.

It was hard to watch, as the boys knew the things she was capable of doing, but at the same time they found it hard to turn their eyes away. 

The moment in which Will wrapped his arms around El... it felt stretched. Like it lasted for minutes, instead of a mere couple of seconds. 

But they could breath again, immediately after. All the tension in the air was gone. 

They had time to feel relieved for only a short moment, before El screamed.

It was a heart wrenching, high pitched scream, out of pure pain and nothing else. And it lasted for few long seconds, before Will and El dropped to the ground on their knees, and her scream turned into sobs.

Mike and Lucas rushed over, Dustin and Max not far behind.

"El, Will?", Mike asked, kneeling beside them. He put a shaky hand on El's back, stroking through the jacket, as he looked over the two.

Will had blood coming from his ears and nose, his face grey and streaked with tears, while El leaned her head on his shoulder and sobbed hard.

Lucas crouched to their other side, after pulling out a tissue he had stashed into his pocket. He then begun wiping the blood from Will's face and ears, causing the boy to smile at him a little in return.

"Thank you", Will said softly, keeping his arms wrapped around El. She sniffed against his shoulder and he tightened his hold, even though he wasn't sure if he even felt his arms at all. He closed his eyes for a while, taking a deep breath now that he could.

"What happened?", Lucas asked, watching them in worry.

"What did you do?", Mike continued. His eyes burned, but he tried to keep the tears away.

He had only once in his life heard someone scream like that before, and the fact that it had been her then, too, wasn't helping at all. 

"I don't know", Will muttered, glancing around them. He didn't see any bleeding bodies, no broken things. Everything seemed normal. 

But no matter what he had done, it had worked.

El lifted her head and pulled slightly away, causing the boy to drop his arms. She had blood smudged under her nose and on Will's shirt, tears welling in her eyes. She stared at the red stain in front of her, before bringing her fingers to slowly brush at it. 

She glanced at Will and Mike both, her head blurry. Then she checked Lucas, Max, and Dustin too, making sure they were all safe and alive. 

"I'm sorry", she choked out, taking a ragged breath.

"No, no, El", Mike hurried, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "We're fine. You're fine, it's alright..."

"Really?", El whispered as she brought a hand to her face absently, trying to wipe the blood away. 

Lucas got another tissue from his pocket, and silently helped her with furrowed brows.

"What was that?", Max asked slowly, she and Dustin sitting down to the ground, too.

"You know, like some superheroes", Dustin begun, "I think she got overworked and her powers lashed out. Or it's the same what happens to Bruce Banner when he gets mad--."

"You're talking about comic books like they're the encyclopedia to, I don't know, _this_ ", Lucas cut him off, motioning towards El and Will. "Does she look _green_ to you?"

"They're the only thing we've got", Mike got out, sharing a look with his friends. 

"When was the last time you really used your powers, to do something big?", Dustin asked El, who stared at the ground, ignoring the glanced Lucas sent his way.

Mike tightened his hold around her a little, watching her with furrowed eyebrows. She brought a hand to hold onto his sleeve.

"When I came back", she whispered. 

"That's a long time ago", Mike told her weakly. "You could do, you know, those little things? Float around some stuff, maybe? I-I don't know", he glanced at the hand that grasped onto his sleeve. "But you should use them, El."

"I don't want to hurt anyone", she told him, her voice breaking even at the mention of doing so.

"You don't need to, ever again", Mike said, swallowing the cry that tried to escape his throat. "I promise."

El leaned sideways against him and he wrapped his arms around her, as tight and comforting as he could.

 

"What got you so mad?", Dustin asked El, after they had all had the time to calm down. 

They sat on the ground - Mike, El, Will, and Lucas leaning against the back of the school, while Max and Dustin sat before them. 

The sun was still keeping them warm.

"He was a mouth breather."

Max laughed and took El's hand in hers, giving it a soft squeeze. "A mouth breather?"

Mike glanced down at the girl, who had nestled herself against his side, as he kept gently stroking her arm. 

"Yes", El nodded seriously, looking at the other girl.

"You're so cute", Max chuckled. "Someone needs to teach you swear words, hon."

Mike immediately shook his head, causing El to look up at him curiously. "It's enough that Max, Dustin, and Lucas curse", he explained shyly, not meeting her eyes. He loved her innocence in some things, and he had seriously thought she wouldn't pick up the rude words that much.

"Yeah... I don't think we need El cursing in the middle of the class and getting detention", Lucas laughed at the idea.

"Imagine her dropping a pen, or something, and then muttering 'asshole' while looking down at it", Dustin said with a chuckle.

Max doubled over her crossed legs, shaking with laughter.

"Asshole?", El questioned, frowning. "Why would I call a pen asshole?"

Lucas joined in the laughter, after glancing at her. 

"They're joking", Will told El, grinning at her confused expression nevertheless.

"But you could call Troy an asshole, the next time he gets on your nerves", Lucas suggested, still chuckling a little.

"Hey!", Mike warned, looking at his friend over El and Will's heads. "You want her to get into a fight?"

"You know she'd beat him, Mike", Dustin said with a grin. "So does he."

"She'd beat anyone, but that's not the point", Mike said, gaining an amused look from the girl by his side.

"Aww", Dustin beamed at them, as the others chuckled.

"She doesn't need to fight", Mike continued weakly. El pressed her smiling face against his shoulder, turning him red and giving their friends a new reason to laugh.

 

It was finally the day of Lucas and Max's first real game on their school's field. Their team had played against nearby schools a few times, but which had been far enough for their friends and family not to follow them.

El was excited. Maybe a bit uncomfortable with all the loud noises, and bleachers full of pupils and relatives. And a little overdosed on sweets, too, but just a little. She had already shared a bag with Will, as they sat between Dustin and Mike, waiting for the game to begin. 

Lucas' parents sat on the row before them, with the baby in Mrs Sinclair's arms, and they seemed just as excited as the teens felt.

"Have you seen him practice?", Pearl asked the four teenagers, having turned halfway on her seat to look up at them.

"No", Will shook his head a little. "He didn't want us to."

Samuel chuckled in his low voice. "He's always like that."

"You're like that, too", Pearl told her husband.

El furrowed her eyebrows a little. "Like what?", she asked. Her finger was currently stuck in the tight fist of Isaac, after she had touched the baby's small hand in fascination. 

"Lucas is...proud. He wants us too see how good he is now, not the way he struggles", the woman explained softly. "He has been like that ever since he was little."

Will frowned, glancing down at his hands. He had been there when Lucas had trained during the summer, sometimes even accompanied him for a jog even though he wasn't any good at sports. The idea that Lucas didn't see him the way he saw his family and their friends... It didn't feel good. 

Maybe it was because they hadn't known each other for that long, the fact that Lucas apparently didn't care about his opinion that much, but it still hurt him. 

"Like when he was learning to ride a bike", Mike chuckled, making his friend's parents laugh. "He got this amazing bike, you know, with a cool bell and all, from his uncle for his birthday", he begun explaining to the other teens, "but he didn't know how to ride it."

"So, one early morning I found him in front of the house, perfectly riding it - he circled to the road and back", Pearl continued, smiling at the memory. "He had been sneaking out for a week, before I woke up, to practice it alone."

"Really?", Will hummed, staring at his hands as he fiddled with them. He couldn't help the small smile, that tugged at his lips. It was quite cute and just what Lucas would do.

"Yes", the woman looked at him softly. "He has always been independent - and little bit stubborn, too."

"But it's hard on him", Samuel spoke, eyeing his youngest son in deep thought. 

No one knew what to say. Pearl patted her husband's hand gently, who took it and gave it a soft kiss. The boys turned their gazes awkwardly away and to the field, while El turned to the baby with a small smile. 

"Sweetie, do you want to hold him?"

El blinked at the woman a few times, her eyes widening.

"He seems to like you", Pearl encouraged her, gently waving at the chubby hand that still held the girl's finger.

"Can I?", El got out softly. 

"Of course", the woman gushed, opening the tiny fist and freeing the finger inside it, before lifting the baby and offering him to the girl. 

El took Isaac, swallowing nervously. The boy stood on her legs with his wobbly ones, staring at her with his brown eyes, before he waved one of his hands to her hair and let out a happy squeal. 

The boys leaned in from both of her sides, chuckling. 

"I think he likes your hair", Mike commented, as the baby tugged at it a little.

"Yes", El let out a breathless laugh, staring at the baby with a startled smile. He was so small, and she was afraid that she would break him. 

Isaac answered to her smile with his toothless one, bouncing on her legs a little.

 

When the game was announced to begin, El returned Isaac to his parents. Her hands and lap felt empty afterwards, and without the much needed distraction she begun to feel nervous again.

Mike noticed it, even before her leg continued its restless movement, and took her hand in his. 

The bleachers then filled with shouts and screams as the players begun coming to the field, and all of them stood up to try to see their two friends.

" _EL!_ "

Frantically looking among the purple shirted players, El searched for Max after hearing her voice.

Then she spotted her and Lucas, who both were waving at them from the field.

" _LOOK!_ ", Max shouted, before she turned around and showed them the white number on the back of her shirt. El squeezed at the hand she was holding onto, eyes burning. A small, surprised laugh escaped her mouth.

Eleven.

"No way", Dustin breathed out with a chuckle.

"That's so cool!", Will beamed, turning to his sister.

El was crying and chuckling softly at the same time, eyes locked on Max who was now running with Lucas to catch the rest of their team. 

Without even thinking about it, Will took a hold of her hand with a smile before he turned back to the field. She squeezed at it, at the same time that she held tighter onto Mike's hand.

"She did it for me?", El breathed out.

"Yeah", Mike chuckled a little. He brought a hand to her face and wiped the tears there away, before he hugged her shyly with one arm around her. Dustin reached out to them too, patting her head with Will in the between.

"Why?"

"Lucas told her, that you immediately knew she wanted to join the team", Dustin told her, over the cheers of other people. 

"He did?", she smiled, gaze averting to the player with number twenty-six on his shirt.

Dustin grinned at her over Will's shoulder. "She thought you might like it."

El glanced at him, beaming. "I like it."

 

The score was a tie, with only tens of seconds left. The boys hadn't really given Max a chance at all during the match, and the team playing against them probably underestimated her because of that.

But not Lucas, no. He knew just how fast she was. So when he got the ball, and the guys came rushing towards him from every possible direction, he locked his eyes with hers. It wasn't what the coach had wanted, but it didn't matter. She was their best chance.

Max got the ball, and then ran like she was chased after by something other than boys.

In the audience, where everyone else cheered as loud as they could, Dustin held his breath and watched her with wide eyes. El gripped onto Mike's hand, who laced their fingers as they watched the last few seconds unfold before them. And while everyone else followed the girl, Will watched their other friend who had stopped to his spot. 

Lucas was waiting, arms tucked behind his head. He had a wide grin on his face under his helmet.

He already knew they had won.


	35. I need a hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I HADN'T EVEN NOTICED - 7,000 HITS ALREADY!!!!
> 
> Thank you, everyone, for your continuing love and support <3

**I need a hero**

 

Dustin's fourteenth birthday had got so little attention - except from his friends - that when Halloween came, his parents offered to leave the house for the evening. The idea was that he could invite his friends over without the adults being on the way. 

It was Friday and all of them had got the permission to stay over. The boys would sleep in Dustin's room, while El and Max would stay in the guest bedroom.

And Dustin had meant to dress himself as a hobbit, which would've played out rather nicely before he realized that he was missing the ears. He had also meant to walk the whole day bare foot, but no... His hairless feet would have looked "as ridiculous as a beardless dwarf" in Lucas' opinion.

Needless to say, it had started a conversation about whether all dwarfs actually had beards or not.

Will on the other hand had told the guys that he had a costume worked out already, and was out of their plans. Which was nothing weird, considering that they hadn't really spent Halloween on the previous years either. Except by watching a movie, or something alike, by just the four of them. 

So with three boys left, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike had decided to be the three caballeros. They were already goofing in the living room in their costumes, singing off-key, when they heard the doorbell.

"Will, where's your costume?", Lucas pressed, immediately after opening the door.

"On", Will laughed, dressed in jeans and a dark blue hoodie. He laughed even more after looking at the three boys before him. "You guys look awesome."

"What are you?", Dustin asked, trying to come up with an answer.

"Where are El and Max?", Mike asked instead, eyeing the road. 

"Oh, here soon", Will glanced behind himself, too. "El's around the corner, waiting for Max."

The boys let their friend in, who put his and El's bags to the side of the front hall, before they went back to waiting. 

"Seriously, what are you?", Lucas asked, looking at Will with furrowed eyebrows.

"You'll find out when you see El," the boy teased, gaining a confused smile in return.

"She must be excited", Dustin said, grinning even at the thought.

It would be the first time for El to go trick or treating. Or to spend Halloween at all.

Mike felt anxious to see her. While they joked in the hall, waiting for the girls, he jumped slightly in his place. He was too nervous to stay put any longer. He had no idea what she had dressed as. 

And when the doorbell finally rang again, Dustin hurried to open the door - revealing Max.

"Let me guess...", he narrowed his eyes at the girl, who had dressed in black and had her hair open and curled. "Black widow, right?"

"Correct", Max grinned, before gently pulling El to the view. "Now, who's she?"

El smiled a little, suddenly feeling shy under all of their stares. She was wearing a white dress and her hair was pulled back and tied, finished with a pearl headdress. 

Mike gulped, opening his mouth a few times but didn't get a word out. She looked even prettier, than he had ever thought one could on Halloween.

"Childlike empress!", Lucas said with a grin, turning to Will. "So you're Bastian, right?"

"Yeah", Will shrugged. "El wanted to be her, and this was an easy way for me."

"Are we going now?", Max asked, impatient as ever. "We won't otherwise have enough time."

"Yeah, sure", Dustin shrugged, before taking her backpack inside.

 

"You look really, really pretty", Mike said as he walked with El, the two of them behind their friends.

El smiled a little, fiddling with her bracelet. "You look funny", she told him, before glancing at Lucas and Dustin briefly. "The three caballeros?" 

She had seen the movie, of course, as it was one of the boys' favorites. Mike was apparently Donald, based on his blue outfit, Dustin was Jose in yellow, while Lucas had gone as Panchito and was wearing his favorite red jacket. But all of them wore the funny looking big hats and she couldn't help but grin at the sight.

"Yeah, buenas noches", Mike laughed, tipping his sombrero shyly in salute and making El let out a soft giggle.

"We're going to the haunted house!", Max informed, after she had span around while walking and was now smirking at them.

"Sure", Mike said back, before taking El's hand in his. "You'll go with me, right?", he confirmed.

El smiled, glancing at him. "Are you scared?", she asked him softly, her voice a little playful.

"No", he laughed at the thought, before squeezing her hand. "Maybe?", he corrected himself, grinning widely at the knowing look on her face. "I have never really liked them. The last time I visited one, well, it was scary", he hurried to explain, glancing at her. "Like really scary."

"I'll keep you safe", El promised, squeezing his hand back and her serious words making him blush.

"Me too", he got out, turning his gaze to the ground. "I'll keep you safe."

She glanced at him, breaking into a grin after seeing the blush on his cheeks.

 

Dustin and Max were the bravest of them and went in first.

"Won't you look at that", she said in awe, pointing at a spider web on a chandelier. 

"Nice", the boy nodded with a grin, before going further in and stepping into a dining room. She trailed behind, stopping to look at every possible thing on the way.

"How do you think they do them?", Max asked, looking around the room.

"The webs?", Dustin confirmed, gaining a nod. "I don't know." 

The lights flickered suddenly, causing him to tense and automatically grab the girl's arm. When he noticed what he had done, he let go and turned away embarrassedly.

"Um, sorry."

Max chuckled a bit, looking around the room. "It's fine", she said, stopping next to the dining table and looking at the arrangement there with interest. "It was just the lights."

Dustin frowned at her words. "That's how we knew where the demogorgon was."

Her head whipped to his direction. "...Huh?"

"Because of the lights, their flickering. If it was close by, they...", he trailed off, waving his hands a little before dropping them back to his sides.

Max stared at his back. "El's lights in her room."

The boy turned around and watched the different emotions flash on her face.

"The Christmas lights", Max sighed and dropped a fork back to the dining room table with a clang, one that she had been fiddling with. "Fuck. Why didn't she tell me?"

"She's not used to it", Dustin reminded. "Telling people how she feels."

"But--!"

"But", he interrupted her gently, "when she's ready, she talks about things. She has gone through a lot, things that would've made me mental, but she handles them."

Max turned her gaze away, pouting without realizing it herself.

"El's pretty tough... Just trust her."

"Yeah", the girl breathed out, slowly nodding. "She's quite badass."

Dustin watched her, and grinned immediately when she did. "Let's continue?"

"Sure", Max shrugged, walking past him and towards the other room. "Don't get lost!"

"I'm following you, so you're the one in charge."

"Oh... That's bad, I got lost in our house a few times after moving." She heard laughter behind her, which brought a wide smile onto her face, too.

"You didn't!"

"I did! I couldn't ever find the bathroom. At least I now know we have a closet with a laundry chute."

"Your mom didn't know about it?", Dustin asked with a confused chuckle.

"God, no", Max laughed. "But I'm glad I do, because I'm the one doing the laundry anyway."

"Yeah?", he hummed, stopping in the middle of the kitchen as she looked around.

She nodded, before lifting up a lid from a pot. "Ew, come look at this, it's gross."

 

"Remember that it's not real, okay?", Lucas told El, as they gave their two friends some time for a head start before another two went in.

She nodded to him seriously, before Mike took her hand and led them into the house.

The flicker of the lights startled them immediately, after they had got to the first room. El moved so fast, that Mike hadn't even had the time to fully process what had happened.

He looked down at the hands he rested on her shoulders, with her back pressed against him. She had her arms wrapped around his middle, pressing the two of them closely together in a way that left his heart hurting.

"I-I think that's part of the tour", Mike stammered, moving his hands from her shoulders to wrap her into a hug. 

She was protecting him, keeping him behind her and safe from the possible threat.

"Yes?", El whispered, tilting her head back and onto his shoulder before leaning it against his. "I hate that", she confessed, voice soft.

"I know", he mumbled, tightening his hold for a few seconds before letting go. 

El turned around, bringing a hand to rest on his arm as she kept eyeing the lights with furrowed eyebrows. He watched her, his heart beating loudly in his chest because of the sudden scare and her actions.

"Y-you okay?", Mike asked, bringing a hand to clasp it around hers. "We can go, if you want. I don't mind." She turned her gaze on him, and her whole expression softened on the second their eyes met.

In the middle of the dim lit house, in a spiderweb-covered and messy dining room with blood splatters around them, El looked out of place. Her white dress, soft smile, and twinkling eyes - they reminded him of some kind of a movie or a cheesy romance novel. She was like an angel, having come to save an unfortunate boy from the cruel world. 

And the boy had fell for her so bad, that it didn't even make sense.

"You want to go?", El asked him, peering into his eyes with her own softer brown ones.

"No, well, I mean, the tour is not that long", Mike glanced at the doorway to the next room. "We'll just walk it through?"

She laced their fingers, before offering him a smile. "Don't let go."

"I promise", he smiled back at her. 

 

When Dustin and Max had returned, both of them as cheerful as usual, Will hadn't thought that the tour could be that bad.

He looked around the dining room, at the raw mush of meat on the plates, when the lights suddenly flickered. It had been long since the last time it had happened.

Will grabbed his friend's hand in shock, squeezing it tight.

"Hey", Lucas chuckled, before glancing down to his side and noticing the expression on the boy's face. He immediately felt bad for laughing. "It's just part of the tour."

"Y-yeah..."

And against all the odds, Lucas didn't let go of his hand but took a better hold instead. "Come on, let's continue."

The living room wasn't that bad, except for the lack of light. Will still hated the dark, he really hated it, and he couldn't help but walk as close to his friend as possible. Their arms rubbed together, creating friction between them that made the two even more nervous than what they had been before. 

Just as they were about to walk out of the room, a guy dressed as a zombie crawled from under a couch and reached towards them with a hand.

Lucas let out a squeal while Will jumped over the hand fast, his eyes wide.

"What the fuck!", Lucas cursed, glancing behind them. " _God!_ "

They got to the kitchen, which had blood all over it. The floors, sink, some pots and kettles - everywhere. And they had thought that the raw meat in the dining room had been gross.

"Ew", Will scrunched his nose at the sight, while his heart kept pounding hard.

"Yeah", Lucas nodded, lifting up a wooden spoon from a pot. "Brain stew?", he offered with a smirk, jiggling the jello looking thing a little.

Will backed up, but got pulled forward by the hand he still held. "Stop it!", he chuckled.

Laughing at the reaction he got, his friend complied and returned the spoon to its rightful place before sudden screams caused them to huddle closer together.

"El and Mike?", Will said slowly, peeking behind the taller boy who stood sideways between him and the now silent hallway.

"Probably, yeah", Lucas nodded, gripping onto his friend's hand. He got a squeeze back, and tried so very hard not to turn around and look at the boy by his side.

Will swallowed, looking at the doorway they were supposed to go through next. "It must've been bad, if it made her scream."

"It'll be alright", Lucas said, gently pulling Will from the kitchen with him.

 

"How come you screamed that much?", Max laughed, after El and Mike had exited the house and joined them.

"It was a man", El pressed, her face serious. "With a chainsaw."

"And a mask, I know", Dustin said, grinning at the two. "We saw him, too. He stood in the corner of the library."

"He ran after us", Mike huffed, tipping his sombrero back and ruffling his hair with his free hand.

"Really?", Max asked, eyes wide. "Aww, why didn't he chase us?", she whined, turning to Dustin.

"Don't know, that would've been cool, though!"

"You are both mental", El said slowly, making the two laugh.

Mike disentangled their fingers and wrapped an arm around her, feeling the material of her dress at her waist, his heart still beating in a crazy rhythm. She immediately leaned to his side and dropped her head onto his shoulder. He wanted to hug her so much, but being that close in front of others was too awkward for him to handle. Besides, they would then have to listen to their friends' teasing them for the rest of the night.

 _"What the hell!?"_ , they heard Lucas shout from the inside, causing the four of them to turn towards the front door. 

Soon their two friends ran out and to them, breathing hard.

"He...He chased us!", Lucas told his friends, leaning onto Will's shoulder. 

"He had a-a chainsaw", Will said, eyes wide.

"Bullshit", Max spat, eyebrows furrowed, before she turned to the boy by her side. "Come on, we're going again! And we'll wander in there so long, that someone does something for real!", she declared, taking Dustin's hand and pulling him along.

"Wait for us!", Dustin shouted over his shoulder, just before the two disappeared inside.

"She's crazy", Lucas huffed, placing a hand over his heart before grabbing Will's to replace his. "Feel my heart", he told the boy, eyes wide. "God, that scared me."

Will stared back at him, his own eyes wide, too, as a blush made its way onto his cheeks. "Y-yeah, me too", he got out, enjoying the rhythm under the palm of his hand and the warm one now covering it.

 

Trick or treating was something El liked better. 

First of all, they got tons of different kinds of sweets which made her happy. But what was more important was that they got to have fun together. 

El couldn't really enjoy the scary part of Halloween, as her fingers immediately tingled if she got startled by something. But she held Mike's hand through the whole evening, despite the times when the three caballeros walked side by side singing what ever came to their minds. She held onto Max's hand then, needing the touch to calm her down if something sudden happened. 

And while the girl didn't think there was anything strange about the way she acted, her friends kept grinning at her as they walked down the streets together. 

 

They got to the next house, and knocked on the door at the same time that Troy opened it. He stared at the six of them, face unreadable, before closing the door at their faces with a bang.

"What the--", Lucas got out, before the door opened again.

"Trick or treaters, huh?", a man said with a slight frown, after seeing their group. "Aren't you a little old for that, already?"

"Um...", Will begun, looking unsure. "It's my sister's first Halloween", he got out shyly, glancing at El who stood next to him.

"Oh, you're Hopper's kid, right?", the man asked El, gaining a nod, before he chuckled warmly. "He's always bragging about you - both of you, actually."

Will smiled nervously at him. The rest glanced at Troy, who stood a little further away. Probably listening to their conversation, despite having turned his back to them.

"Here you go", the boy's father murmured, handing each of them a handful of sweets. "Hope you kids enjoy your night", he said, glancing at his son briefly. 

"Thank you", El said, flashing the man a small smile. The others mumbled their thanks, too, before they left the house.

"That was...weird", Dustin commented, when they were far enough to not be heard.

"He is Jim's friend", El stated, her words causing everyones eyes to widen.

"How do you know?", Will asked, coming to her side.

"A new friend, I think", she added, scrunching her nose. "Troy doesn't want to get in trouble, with any of us."

El didn't actually know, she was just guessing, but it all would make sense to her that way. The fact that he had stopped harassing them in public had troubled her for over a month. He hadn't spoken to her either, after they had got a full A from their assignment in biology. 

"So..?", Lucas asked, frowning in confusion.

"He doesn't want to make his dad mad", Mike said, putting the pieces together, "who is apparently friends with the chief, huh?"

"Yes", El nodded, staring at the now dark street as they continued further.

"Huh", Max raised her eyebrows. "Who would've known."

 

"This will be the only trick or treating chance you'll get, El", Max told her, as they walked down another street - closer to Dustin's house this time.

"I know", El nodded, glancing at her friend.

"I still don't get it, why it's only for kids", Will wondered aloud.

"Think about the pranks teenagers would do", Max laughed. "The kids our age, and younger, egg houses... Just think about it."

"Yeah, I get it", the boy nodded immediately, causing the girl to chuckle.

"Egg houses?", El asked.

Max glanced at her with a smirk. "Throw eggs at houses."

"That's not nice", the other girl frowned. "That's just rude."

"It's a part of it."

"What are we doing next year?", El asked then, glancing at her friends. Mike, Lucas, and Dustin walked ahead, talking and laughing rather loudly amongst themselves.

Will smiled at her and the question. It was nice, thinking so far along the way.

"Party, I suppose", Max answered.

"Party?"

"Yeah. Costumes, music, and stuff."

"Okay." 

It sounded good, too. El didn't really mind, as long as they were all together.

 

"That was fun", Will said, as the teens slumped to the couches on Dustin's living room later in the evening.

"My toe still hurts", Lucas whined, slowly taking his shoe off and hissing in pain when removing his sock. 

He had kicked a tiny pumpkin because he didn't like doing serious tricks, but the pumpkin had apparently been made out of stone or something alike. That was how he had ended up with a bloody toe and a damaged nail, along with throbbing pain.

"I'm hungry", Dustin said loudly, looking at his friends.

"I'm starving", El admitted, while going through her sweets and trying to find her favorites.

"Don't eat the candies, then", Mike said from where he sat next to her, gaining a confused glare from her. "Food first."

El pouted a little, looking like a spoiled princess in her costume. "One?", she asked softly, showing a tiny candy bar to him.

"Just one, alright?", Mike sighed, although smiled at her when she opened the wrapper. She had the most adorable puppy eyes, how could he resist them? She didn't even do it on purpose.

"Come on, Mike", Will chuckled, getting his attention. "Let's get them something to eat", the boy said as he motioned between the girls and Lucas, who was now taking care of his injury. 

Dustin already waited for them at the doorway to the kitchen.

"Oh, okay", Mike nodded, glancing El for one more time, before getting up from the couch and following his friends.

"Let's see", Dustin said, going to the fridge. "There's..."

"A lot", Will completed the sentence as he came to stand behind Dustin with Mike, both of them peering over his shoulders.

"Do we want super fast or... do we want super good?", Dustin asked the boys, who both shrugged. "I mean, I see chicken wings", he continued.

"Yeah?", Mike asked, peering into the fridge.

"Let's put the oven on", Will grinned.

"It's going to take forty-five minutes!", Dustin shouted to the living room.

 _"What are you making, a feast?"_ , Lucas shouted back, making the boys laugh.

"Chicken wings!"

 _"YES!"_ , Lucas and Max cheered loudly. 

That, combined with El's soft laughter, brought a grin to each of their faces.

 

It was a long forty five minutes, that was for sure. 

But when the boys came back - Mike carrying ice cold bottles of soda, Dustin with two large plates of chicken wings, and Will with a tray of sauces and other things - the long wait didn't matter anymore.

Mike chuckled at the empty sweet wrappers on the table, right where El sat. She acted all innocent, glancing at the wrappers and then him with a blank face. Shaking his head fondly, he collected the neatly straightened wrappers and put them aside. He wasn't sure if she wanted to save them so he couldn't simply throw them away.

They turned on the TV, and changed onto another channel right when a movie was beginning.

"Poltergeist", Will said, as soon as he had only glanced at the screen.

"You've seen this one?", Max asked.

"Yeah, when it came."

"Is it good?", El asked him.

"Scary, but good", Will answered.

El scrunched up her nose, while stacking her plate with food.

"It'll be fine", Max assured from her side.

 

They ate fast. Which was actually a good thing, because when the movie got scary they couldn't concentrate on both eating and watching. And when the first commercial break came, they all rushed to wash their hands.

El was the last to return and Mike couldn't help the pleased grin, that settled on his face, when she sat between him and Max. Dustin sat on a recliner, his feet up and a bowl of popcorn on his lap, while Will and Lucas took the smaller couch.

"You can't hog it all", Max told Dustin, while reaching for the popcorn from the couch.

"There are two bowls", he pointed out, despite offering the one he had with an amused expression.

"Yeah, but the other one is way over there!", she whined, pointing at Lucas and Will. Then Max grabbed the whole bowl, settling back with a pleased grin.

"I'm not parting from this", Lucas muttered, eyes glued to the television. 

"That's all we have, so scoot over", Dustin sighed, getting up from the recliner.

Mike moved closer to the other armrest, El coming to his side and their arms rubbing together, as Max made room for Dustin.

It wasn't uncomfortable or tight, just close.

 

Mike first felt, then moved his gaze down to see El slid her hand into his and lace their fingers. 

He turned his eyes on her, immediately blushing. She was closer than he had realized. And somehow, over the past few minutes that they had concentrated on the movie, he had forgot just how pretty she looked.

Well he could never truly forget, it was just... she looked even better, than what his mind could remind him of.

"Oh, god", he heard Lucas mutter, at the same time that El suddenly twitched. But only the squeeze to Mike's hand got him out of his daze.

El turned her large eyes to Mike. "That didn't scare you?", she whispered, eyeing him with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

"Um, no", he whispered, while not being exactly sure what had happened.

But El simply nodded, before turning back to the movie. Mike did the same, not wanting to get caught staring at her like that again.

 

If someone had told Max that she would find real friends from this tiny town called Hawkins, she would have laughed at their faces. And if someone had afterwards said that she'd find someone she'd actually like, she would've died from laughter. Because she had never liked anyone. Not in that way. Not even a tiny bit. 

No one had simply been interesting enough.

Max wasn't sure if this was liking, either, the thing she felt. But no matter what it was, she found herself glancing at the boy next to her, again and again.

It couldn't be, not really.

Yeah sure, he was funny and he always made her laugh. He also had this brown, curly hair, which she ruffled jokingly every now and then. And it did feel quite nice. 

And, you know... He had these eyes, which were full of color and laughter. 

But it was Dustin, one of her new friends. 

Her hand still tingled after grabbing his, hours ago, before dragging him back to the haunted house.

Max had kissed a few boys, and she had also kissed _with_ a few boys, before moving to Hawkins. Boys were nothing new or special to her. Most of them were idiotic, selfish brats, and she didn't want anything to do with them on daily basis.

So how on earth could holding someone's hand feel nice and nerve wrecking at the same time? 

 

"I don't like the music", El whispered to Mike. 

He glanced down, noticing her furrowed eyebrows as she kept watching the movie.

"It's meant to be like that, to make the movie even scarier", he whispered.

She pulled away from him, sliding her hand from his. 

"Is everything okay?", Mike whispered, worried that he had said something wrong. 

But El lifted his arm, going under it before cuddling to his side. She slid her other arm over his middle, before clutching onto his blue shirt. 

Mike wrapped both of his arms around her, swallowing hard while a blush crept onto his face. 

"Yes", she whispered, turning her attention back to the movie. 

And Mike followed her lead, while concentrating on breathing.

_One breath in, one out. What next? Oh, one in, then one out again... Steady, now, man. Be cool, be cool... One in... One out..._

 

Lucas nudged Will, before grinning at his friends on the other couch.

"Cute", Will whispered, smiling widely at El and Mike.

Mike glanced at them, having noticed their stare, before turning back to the movie. He looked both happy and embarrassed at the same time, a deep blush covering his whole face. 

Simultaneously, Lucas and Will moved their gazes over at Dustin. The boy sat side by side with Max, both of their eyes glued to the screen.

They all knew about his crush on the girl. 

He had accidentally told about it when they had gone camping in the summer, creating an uncomfortable situation in the changing rooms by the beach.

Will had really thought that Dustin had spoke about El, which had made him uncomfortable. And when he had voiced his thoughts Dustin had blurted out that it was, in fact, Max who he meant. 

Which had made Mike and Lucas tease both Will and Dustin, for different reasons. Basically it had been a mess, but all of them supported Dustin with his mission.

But, to their frustration, their friend was too shy to act on it.

 

After the movie they cleaned the living room table and the kitchen together.

Dustin got help from El with the dishes, while Max sat on the counter next to the sink and kept entertaining the two of them. Mike helped to dry the ones El gave him, before putting them back to their rightful places. 

Will watched, with a slight frown, how Lucas limped a little while walking.

"Does it hurt?", he asked, gaining his friend's attention.

"Huh?"

"The toe? Does it still hurt?"

Lucas removed his gaze from Will's eyes, to look down at his bandaged toe. "A little, yeah", he nodded slowly. "But it'll heal."

"Can you run with it? Or kick?", Max asked, now also eyeing the injured foot. "We still have a few weeks left of the season, before winter break." 

"Next practice is on Monday", Lucas shrugged. "And I haven't put weight on it, anyway."

"Then don't", Will bit his lip. "We can help you, like get upstairs and stuff like that..."

Lucas looked at him for a while, before beaming at him. "Yeah, thanks. Cool."

"I-it's nothing."

But Lucas could see the blush on Will's cheeks, even though the boy tried to turn away and hide it. The shy smile on his face was impossible to wipe away.

 

After putting on their pajamas, Max and Dustin both surged from the different rooms to the hallway at the same time. 

They looked at each other, before they simultaneously walked towards the bathroom down the hall. Then they glanced at the door, before sharing amused smiles.

"You can go first", Dustin offered with a wave of a hand. "I'll just brush my teeth."

"Me too", Max showed her toothbrush to him with a grin. "We can go at the same time, then?"

Dustin stared at her for a while, before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess."

She opened the door and flicked on the lights, him following not far behind. They then begun to brush their teeth in silence, Max staring at the floor and Dustin at his reflection from the mirror.

After done, Max was just about to leave before she turned around. "Your front teeth...", she begun slowly, leaning onto the doorway. 

"It's a condition", Dustin interrupted her gently, rinsing his toothbrush. "Cleidocranial dysplasia. It affects my bone growth."

"Okay", she nodded. "I was just about to say that they've begun to grow. I noticed it a month ago."

He didn't turn to her, but she saw the small smile on his face through the mirror. "They have, yeah...", the boy got out, surprised.

"Well, goodnight, I guess."

Dustin turned to look at her with a grin. "Goodnight, Max." And after quickly glancing at his teeth from the mirror, he then followed the girl to the hallway. 

The door to the guest room opened, at the exact second they turned around the corner, in front of which a blushing boy stood with his hand raised in a knock.

Mike froze to his place, after seeing the two of them. "Um..." 

"Dude", Dustin chuckled. "Seriously?"

El peeked out of the room, dressed in her pajamas like everyone else, glancing at him and Max. Then she turned to Mike with a shy smile.

Max's sudden loud laughter brought a limping Lucas and Will out of the other room. And Lucas didn't need to do more than glance at the four of them, to understand what was going on. 

"I thought you were going to the bathroom", he grinned at Mike, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I didn't say I was", the boy defended himself, blushing even more after his own words. 

Will looked at him wide eyed, before glancing at El. Lucas leaned onto his shoulder, needing a little bit of support while his other foot didn't almost touch the ground at all.

"There was a reason why our parents wanted the girls into the guest room", Dustin reminded with a wide grin.

El now looked at Mike in worry, from where she stood in the doorway. The boy blushed into an even darker shade of red.

"Let them be", Max chuckled, after seeing her friend's expression. "Your parents aren't even home, no one will find out", she added to Dustin.

Lucas glanced down at Will, feeling his face heat up. Suddenly he realized just how lucky he was, to have the other boy sleep right next to him, on the floor. They wouldn't be alone, of course, but just having him close was nice. 

He had no idea what Mike and El had to go through, but he could guess. Even though comparing their situations wasn't actually fair, as they were completely different. While their friends were on some kind of level of dating, he and Will were friends.

But no matter the situation, the idea of sleeping beside Will still brought a shy smile onto his face.

"Please, just shut up", Mike groaned, covering his face with both hands. "Why did you turn this into a gathering?"

"You're the one who tried to sneak into their room", Dustin pointed out, shaking his head while smirking, before beginning to head towards his own room. Lucas and Will backed up inside it, too.

Just as Mike was about to follow his friends in defeat, Lucas closed the door to his face.

Max sniggered from where she stood by El's side, who in turn stared at the door on the other side of the hallway with wide eyes.

"Come on", Mike banged the door.

_"Finish what you started!"_

_"Lucas--!"_ , Will's hiss got muffled up.

Max guided her friend from the doorway to the hall, before going into the room herself and shutting the door while chuckling. 

Mike turned to look at El, feeling embarrassed.

"Mike--", she begun, but the boy lifted a finger in front of his mouth and shushed her softly.

He came closer, whole face flaming red. "They're listening", Mike whispered. She looked at him with wide eyes, after glancing at both of the closed doors in wonder.

El then reached out to him, placing a hand to his arm. _Why are they like that?_ , her voice filled his head, as she begun to fiddle with the sleeve of his shirt with her fingers.

Mike shrugged and watched how she scrunched up her nose, as she didn't really understand the situation their friends had put them into. Then he did something out of the blue and gently flicked her nose. 

Just as his finger touched her, she closed her eyes and then opened them to look at him in confusion. Bringing her other hand up she mirrored the gesture, causing him to chuckle.

 _"They're just playing around"_ , one of the boys' said behind the door.

_"Idiot! They can hear us!"_

_"Hush!"_

Sighing, Mike closed his eyes in frustration.

 _Privacy_ , El told him gently. She didn't like it, what their friends did. If she wanted to be alone with him, then it meant that she wanted to be _alone_ with him. 

Mike opened his eyes and looked at her, biting onto his lower lip. Then he took her hand and simply lead her around the corner, where the staircase down begun.

"Better?", he asked softly, turning around to face her.

"Yes", she whispered, coming to circle her arms around his middle. 

He shyly wrapped her into an embrace, basking in the feeling. El felt so small like that. She usually had her arms around his neck, which he didn't mind of course, but this was new. 

The fact that she was wearing pajamas messed with his head, quite a lot actually. She also smelled of her girly soap, even more so than usually as she had just taken a quick shower. It was easily the best smell he knew, making his head spin and stomach do grazy flips. 

When she had taken a nap in his bed a few weeks before, her flowery scent had stuck onto his pillows and covers for a few good nights. It was the next best thing he knew of, but it was missing the source of it.

"I want to sleep with you", El told him, after having dropped her head onto his shoulder.

Mike hugged her a bit tighter, wondering if she had heard his thoughts somehow. "Me too." 

El didn't want to go, but she knew they had to - sooner or later. She couldn't help the want to hold his hand, to hug him, or to kiss him. Something about those things made her heartbeat quicken and warmth to spread inside her, while her insides tickled with the gentle buzzing feeling that she had almost grew accustomed to.

But it didn't mean that it wasn't as exciting as it had been in the beginning, because it was. Everything about him.

It was hard to keep away from him, but she knew him. She knew that he didn't really want to do those things in front of others, even if it didn't make any sense to her. Those things, which she wanted to do, they were normal. At least how she saw them. 

Ever since coming back she had been smothered in hugs and kisses at home, occasionally by other people, too. But if the boys had made a big deal out of her and Will sleeping in the same bed, maybe she was the one who was wrong.

"Is it normal?", she whispered.

"Huh?", Mike frowned at the sudden question. 

"Wanting to sleep together?"

"Oh, um... Well y-yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

Maybe it was one of those things that people didn't talk about that much, and she would probably understand it with time. 

"I don't know", El mumbled. 

Just as she lifted her head up, Mike turned his own to look down at her. Their noses collided softly together, causing both of them to grin in amusement. El then nuzzled her nose against his, sending a rush of affection through Mike as he watched her. 

She probably had no idea what she was doing to him - to his head and heart. 

El tilted her head a little, so that their noses wouldn't bump into each other, and leaned in for a kiss just as her eyes fluttered shut. And Mike closed his eyes too, shyly kissing her back.

Then El heard it, the sound of the front door opening downstairs. She broke their kiss and took Mike's hand, pulling him with her back to the hallway.

"What?", he got out, confused and disappointed by the sudden change.

"Dustin's parents", El explained to him, her eyes wide. She took a deep breath, after they were back between the two doors.

 _"They're home?"_ , Dustin's voice came from his room, before the door opened and he rushed past them to downstairs. 

"I should go", El said softly, looking after their friend's back before turning to the boy by her side. "I should be in the guest room, already."

"Y-yeah", Mike muttered with a small nod, caressing the hand he held with his fingers. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight", she smiled at him, taking a few steps towards the guest room door.

But he pulled her back, blushing brightly as he did so. "O-one more, okay?", he whispered.

El let out a soft hum, her eyes twinkling with amusement and causing him to grin goofily while looking at her. She nodded, before leaning in and kissing him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Obviously Halloween continues a bit on the next chapter...


	36. Love isn't always on time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. We have also reached 300+ kudos, THANK YOU!
> 
>  **AND** As I'm such a weird person - I don't have tumblr. But my friend showed me (a little late, krhm...) an amazing piece of art based on CH16., on the flashback where El faces the demogorgon. I actually teared up after seeing it, I'm such a crybaby...
> 
> Here is the link to the original post, go show them some love on my behalf: http://saltyditty.tumblr.com/post/155002067474/okay-so-i-can-explain-about-this-this-was-super
> 
> THANK YOU KIND STRANGER <3
> 
> And if someone makes or sees more fanart of **Never gonna give you up** , feel free to leave me a link in the comments!
> 
> Lots of love, preciousbean

**Love isn't always on time**

 

"You're bad", Lucas drawled, after all the boys had finally settled into Dustin's room. He stared at Mike, still amused and with a wide grin plastered on his face. 

The other boy groaned, slumping down onto the mattress and pulling up his blanket to hide his blushing face.

"That sounds so wrong", Dustin chuckled from his bed, Will joining in on his laughter.

"But why did your parents come home?", Lucas wondered. "Weren't they supposed to be gone for the night?"

"For the evening", Dustin raised his eyebrows amusedly at his friend.

"No", Will shook his head slowly. "You said 'for the night', I remember that."

"I didn't."

"Yeah, you did", Lucas agreed. "Because immediately after, me and Mike started planning how we could scare El and Max in the middle of the night. But then Will--."

"I pointed out that El would probably kill us all", Will nodded along, turning to Dustin. "You did say that."

The boy sighed frustratedly. "I really didn't, guys!"

"You did!", Mike raised his voice enough to be heard. 

"You didn't get caught, so stop complaining", Dustin told him.

Lucas grinned, messing his friend's dark hair which peeked from under the blanket. "What would your mother think, if she knew her precious baby boy has a habit of sneaking in the middle of the night to kiss girls?"

"A girl", Mike pointed out, his voice muffled up.

"Do they know that you're, I don't know, dating?", Dustin asked slowly. 

The question was followed by a long silence until Mike revealed his face, frowning in thought. "I don't know", he mumbled.

"You don't know?", Will asked, eyebrows high. "Mom knows you like each other."

Mike nodded, casting his eyes away. He had known it for a while, already. Since the spring, after the night he had sneaked into El's room... He blushed even thinking about it. 

"So Jim probably knows, too."

Now the brown eyes widened in shock, causing the three other boys to laugh at him and continue the teasing a lot longer than they otherwise would have.

"Man, you're screwed", Lucas chuckled.

 

On the other side of the hallway, El and Max laid in bed side by side.

"The one in purple wrapper."

"The chocolate one with filling?", Max confirmed, thinking back to the sweets they had got. "That was the best one?"

"Yes", El nodded, looking at her friend curiously. "What about you?"

"I don't know... I think I like fudge more", the other girl said slowly. "But chocolate is good, too."

"I like it."

"I know you do", Max chuckled, causing her friend to smile widely at her in return. "But... Did you like it, Halloween I mean?"

El turned onto her back, eyeing the ceiling. "Maybe", she whispered slowly.

"It wasn't your thing, huh?"

"My thing?", the girl asked, turning to look at her friend.

"Yeah, not everyone likes Halloween", Max explained. "Like, how I don't care much about Christmas. But we don't really celebrate it, so... I could like it? Possibly?"

"You don't have Christmas?", El asked, eyebrows slightly furrowed in wonder.

"Nah, mom doesn't really care. My stepdad likes it, you know. He got me and Billy a few presents, we hung a few ornaments, stuff like that. It was fun, but I don't know if I want the whole thing... Everything being as perfect as in movies. That's not real, you know?"

Her friend nodded in thought, thinking about what she had just heard. "You like your stepdad, don't you?", she asked after a while.

Max chuckled a little. "That's what you picked up on? But yeah, I guess", she sighed. "He's not a bad man, not really. He's the sane one in our family, even though he's in jail. Can't wait what'll happen to me", she added darkly.

Watching her friend, El felt the tightness in her chest. "You miss him."

"...Yeah."

El reached for Max's hand, clasping onto it gently. She couldn't imagine losing Joyce or Jim, in any way, or being apart from them after everything that had happened.

Max gave the other girl's hand a squeeze. "He has visiting hours on Fridays, sometimes... I used to go there every week, you know? I ran to the bus after school and had to change into another one on the way", she explained. "And sometimes when I got there, visiting hours were either over or he hadn't any that week."

"...What about now?"

"I'm tired."

Furrowing her eyebrows, El nodded. "We can sleep", she suggested softly.

"No, not like that", Max smiled briefly, turning to her friend. "Well, that too... But I'm tired of trying. He's not allowed to call, so if he wants to see me, I don't know... He can write to me."

"He wants to see you, Max."

The redhead beamed at her friend. "How are you so cool?"

"Cool?", El frowned a little. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. Dimwit."

"You are cool."

Max let out a small laugh, before closing her eyes. "Goodnight, weirdo", she whispered.

"Goodnight", El whispered back.

They listened to the wind for a while as they settled better to the bed, getting comfortable and ready to fall asleep. It begun to rain soon after, the droplets gently hitting the window as the tree branches continued their rustle in the wind.

"Carrots."

"...What?", Max chuckled, opening her eyes. She had just been about to fall asleep, when she had heard the soft voice.

El hummed softly, the sound not quite a laugh but something alike. "You", she mumbled sleepily, keeping her eyes closed.

"Carrots?", the other girl asked amusedly, trying not to laugh.

"Mm-hm", her friend nodded a little. "Carrots..."

Max hid her face into the pillow as she kept chuckling softly, while her friend fell asleep by her side.

 

When the lights were out, Will found it hard to relax enough to sleep. He kept his eyes closed while listening to the breathing of his friends, which usually calmed him. But not this time. Not even the sound of the rain managed to do its trick.

Turning to his side, after what felt like an hour, he shyly watched Lucas' profile. His lips were slightly parted and Will guessed that he was already fast asleep. 

So he closed his eyes too, hoping that his dreams wouldn't be that bad now that he wasn't at home. Especially after watching the _Poltergeist_. He wished the same for El, knowing just how bad hers could be.

 

Lucas hissed in pain, in the middle of the night, after something hit his damaged toe. He opened his eyes and was ready to curse and rudely wake up either one of his friends, but his angry thoughts ceased right after he saw Will.

The boy had his eyes screwed shut and tears glistening on his cheeks. 

"Will?", Lucas whispered, getting a little closer to his friend and touching his arm gently. "Will?"

"...n-no", Will sniffed, shaking his head a little.

It was a nightmare, Lucas knew it, but he didn't know what to do. Gently he shook the boy's arm and whispered his name a few times, propped up on an elbow. He hated it, Will being like that. He tried to wipe away the tears as gently as he could, heart breaking at the sight of them.

Will opened his eyes, taking a ragged breath before his gaze focused on the dark eyes looking down at him. "...L-Lucas?"

"Bad dream?", Lucas whispered, eyebrows furrowed in worry. He pulled his hand away from the warm cheek it had been on, resting it between them. 

Will swallowed, sniffling. "A-am I... Am I awake?", he got out, his thin voice breaking as he spoke.

"Yeah, and everything's okay... It was only a bad dream", Lucas murmured softly. 

He then curiously watched his friend lift up a hand between them and tensed when it came to touch his face, fingers gently brushing his cheek a few times. 

Lucas' face was on fire, heart skipping a few beats from shock and excitement. It couldn't be happening. Maybe it was him who was dreaming.

Before he was even sure if it was really happening or not, Will pulled his hand away. But he placed it on the one that Lucas rested between them, closing his eyes afterwards. 

"It's a dream", the boy whispered softly. "Not a nightmare..."

Lowering his head back to the pillow, Lucas watched his friend with wide eyes. "Y-you think so?", he stammered out in a whisper.

"Mm", Will smiled sleepily, shuffling a little closer with his eyes closed. "A dream."

And Lucas wanted to scream from both frustration and happiness at the same time. But instead he turned his hand around and clasped it tightly together with Will's, swallowing nervously while waiting for his friend's reaction.

The boy didn't pull away, like a part of Lucas had expected him to. It was the twisted masochist in him, which always thought the outcome would hurt him in some way - like it was hoping for that to happen. But that didn't happen. Will sighed and squeezed the hand in his instead, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

Even if his friend was sleeping, and even if it all turned out to be a dream in the morning, Lucas couldn't help but bask inwardly due to the feeling of Will's hand clasped with his. Neither could he tear his gaze away the content look on the boy's face, as he curled up a little in his sleep.

It was probably stupid and childish, but he covered their clasped hands with both of their blankets before closing his own eyes too. And for an hour or so he kept opening them, again and again, just to make sure there weren't any tears on the face before his.

 

When El and Max woke up earlier than the boys in the morning, they first headed downstairs from where the smell of bacon was coming from.

"Oh! Good morning, girls", Mrs Henderson greeted them immediately, after having noticed them by the doorway.

"Good morning", the two chorused, smiling shyly at the woman.

"We haven't met before, right?", Edith smiled at Max, who shook her head in return.

"No", the girl spoke up. "I'm Max."

"And I'm Edith", the woman told her, briefly glancing at the pancakes she was making. "El and the boys have told me about you. And my husband too, after your camping trip in the summer. I've been waiting for you to drop by", she offered the girl a friendly smile.

Max nodded, not really knowing what to say. 

"Can I help?", El asked from her side.

Edith glanced around the mess she had made in the kitchen, before turning to the girls with raised eyebrows. "Everything's almost ready, but why don't you two go wake the boys up? I'm sure they'll appreciate the breakfast more when it's warm."

 

Lucas was glad that he had woke up before his friends, as he wouldn't otherwise have had the slightest idea of how to get away with the situation he was currently in.

His and Will's hands were still clasped together, under the blankets, but that was only the beginning. Swallowing hard, he removed the arm he had threw over his friend and moved away to create even a little bit of room between them.

Will slept through it all, however he held onto his hand a little tighter. And Lucas couldn't do anything else but openly stare at the boy, as his heart kept pounding like mad man's and his brain tried to desperately catch up with the situation.

Had he just cuddled with Will, through the whole night? And, as his heart told him, the worst part was that he didn't remember anything but the seconds after waking up. Which had been filled with confusion and panic.

The gentle knock on the door startled him, and he turned his gaze towards it just as it opened.

"Morning", El told him, Max glancing into the dark room from behind her.

"Morning", Lucas whispered back.

"There's breakfast", Max said, her normally loud voice gentle.

"Okay", he nodded slowly, suddenly even more aware of the hand he held onto.

El came to him and kneeled on the foot of the mattress. "He had a nightmare", she whispered, glancing at him before she turned to Will.

Lucas nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. "How did you know?"

She pointed at her head, and he didn't need a better explanation besides the gesture. El gave Will's leg a few gentle strokes through the covers, before she shuffled over to where Mike was still soundly asleep on Lucas' other side.

Smiling at the face in front of her, El laid down onto the space between the two boys. She then brought up a hand and begun drawing lines across Mike's face with the tip of her finger, marveling over the sight of the sleeping boy.

Moving their gazes from the pair to each other, Lucas and Max rolled their eyes. The redhead leaned to the doorframe, looking unsure of what she should do.

Lifting his free hand up and pointing it towards the only bed in the room, Lucas smirked at her.

Max glanced at the bed, lifting her eyebrows at the suggestion before walking out of the room with a playful grin on her face.

Immediately after getting rid of the watching eyes, not possibly in a way he had thought to, Lucas turned back to Will. He gave the boy's hand a squeeze, which caused him to stir in his sleep.

"Will", he spoke gently, his stomach knotting in anticipation. "Breakfast."

"Hm?", the boy hummed, still not opening his eyes. "Waffles?", he whispered.

"I don't know", Lucas chuckled. His heartbeat quickened, waiting for the moment the other boy would notice their clasped hands. "But something good, I bet." 

Will smiled sleepily, causing his friend to smile too. Then he opened his eyes and blinked a few times, before their gazes met. 

Then the hand in Lucas' grasp twitched, and he watched how the face in front of him turned red. He felt the way his hand got squeezed and then fumbled with by the smaller one. 

Will was making sure that what he felt was real and Lucas had never been as nervous as in those ten long seconds. 

"Um", the other boy got out then, eyebrows furrowing in worry. His brown eyes were wider than ever.

"It's okay", Lucas whispered, feeling a blush come onto his own face, too.

"Y-yeah?", Will asked, his voice thin.

His friend nodded as an answer.

"Are the others awake?", Mike asked from the other side of El, causing the both of them to tense up. 

Will then saw El peek from over Lucas, the girl offering him a smile as soon as their eyes met. He smiled back at her, blushing even more than earlier, before she turned away.

"Dustin is still sleeping", she said, just as Max walked into the room.

 

_\- Few minutes earlier -_

"Will", El heard Lucas whisper, before she tuned out the conversation happening behind her back. It was rude to eavesdrop and besides, she had more important matters to attend to. 

She tried to ignore the squirming feeling, which made her want to cuddle closer to the sleeping boy now next to her. Instead she dragged her finger down the soft cheek again.

When she touched the end of his nose, Mike furrowed his eyebrows slightly in his sleep. _Wake up, Mike_ , she told him gently, watching how his face softened again. 

"El", he mumbled out with a sigh, and she knew she wouldn't have heard him if they hadn't been that close.

 _Did you sleep well?_ , she asked, stroking his cheek absently as she watched him.

Instead of answering, Mike threw a hand over her and pulled her closer to him. "Hm..."

"Mike?", El whispered, their faces now inches apart. "Wake up."

"Five more minutes", he murmured, shuffling closer to her and pressing their foreheads together. Their noses touched, reminding her of the night before.

"No", she whispered, before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on his lips. And Mike kissed her back, sighing against her mouth and fiddling with the back of her shirt sleepily. El opened her eyes as she pulled away, moving her hand into his hair. "Wake up, Mike."

Licking his lips, the eyes before her finally opened and all she saw was the dark brown color of them. And then also bright pink, after he blushed a moment later.

"El...", Mike whispered, his eyes wide. "W-what are you doing in here?"

"We came to wake you up", she whispered back, stroking his hair and sending sparks through him. "We're having breakfast."

"N-now?", he squeaked, before clearing his throat. He hitched his hand up from the hem of her shirt, gently placing it on her upper back.

"Soon", El told him.

Swallowing, Mike leaned in for another kiss. He knew that they weren't alone, far from that, but something about the moment made him think that there were only the two of them. Closing his eyes as soon as their lips met, he pressed his palm flat on her back and she pressed against him in return. 

She slowly kissed his lower lip, and just then he was aware of the weird burn and tingle on his lower stomach. He opened his eyes and stared at her, frozen to his place. _No, no, no..._

El pulled away, looking at him wide eyed. Her fingers tangled with his hair, causing him to close his eyes at the feeling.

 _What is it?_ , she asked him, the thought and her voice filling his head.

She had no idea what she was doing to him, and he planned to keep it that way.

"...A-are the others awake?", Mike whispered, opening his eyes, causing the girl to raise up and lean onto her arm. He watched her glance behind her with a smile on her face, before she looked over at Dustin.

"Dustin is still sleeping", El said, just before Max came back into the room with a bucket in her hands.

"Not for long", the girl declared. The others sat up, wondering what she was up to and watching her cautiously. She then simply tipped the bucket upside down over the boy, the countless candy wrappers rustling on their sleeping friend and around the bed.

Lucas was the first to laugh, others joining in quite soon. Max hid the bucket under the bed, trying not to laugh as their friend begun waking up before her.

"What?", Dustin mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He then looked down and around his bed, eyebrows furrowing at the sight.

"Dude", Max got out, trying to keep her face straight. "I think you're a sleep-eater."

Will snorted, covering his mouth fast with his free hand. Lucas turned to him with a wide grin, and his heart skipped a beat when his friend let out a soft giggle. Will glanced at him briefly before he looked away, eyes twinkling with laughter and cheeks bright red.

"No way...", Dustin mumbled, lifting up a few wrappers. "Seriously?"

Biting her lip, Max nodded. "That's a bad habit", she got out, before she cracked up and turned away.

The curly haired boy watched her with wide eyes, before he turned to look at the rest of his friends.

"You don't probably want anything sweet now, right?", Mike grinned at him.

"There is bacon", El spoke up gently, silencing everyone. "I think you would like that, Dustin." 

Mike dropped his forehead onto El's shoulder, from where he sat a little behind her, shaking with silent laughter. 

Max took a deep breath before she laughed, breaking the silence. "El!", she got out in the between. "Please...!"

The rest joined in soon after, except for Dustin who still stared at everyone with wide eyes.

"Why are you laughing?", Dustin asked slowly, looking at each of his friends. "This is serious, guys. Sleep eating is a disorder."

"I'm sorry", Max breathed out, turning back to him with her face bright red from laughing so much. "It was a joke."

"...A joke?", the boy confirmed, dumbfounded.

"I just fetched those downstairs", she chuckled a bit, pointing at the wrappers scattered on the bed. 

Dustin looked down once again. "But..."

"It was a joke", Max huffed as she came over and pulled the bucket from under the bed, before she begun the pick up the trash from the covers. "Apparently not a funny one", she mumbled, a slight pout on her face.

"No", Dustin chuckled then, startling her. "I bought it. Quite clever, actually." 

He then helped her with the rest of the wrappers, the two stashing them back into the bucket, oblivious of the amused glances they were getting from their friends. 

 

"What have I told you about throwing the cereal?", Edith scolded her husband and son gently, as she sat down at the empty seat at the dining room table.

"But we've got so good at it already", Calvin protested, just as Dustin was about to throw another cereal at his father. "I can now catch almost everyone of them!"

Edith simply rolled her eyes at the two in response, before she turned to their guests. "So, I gathered you had fun last night?"

"Yeah", Mike nodded, after emptying his mouth. "We went trick or treating."

"And to the haunted house", Max added.

"Was it scary?", Edith asked.

"Not really", the girl shrugged, taking another pancake. "But it was really cool."

"I bet it was", the woman nodded.

Dustin felt embarrassed for some reason, and he turned away from the conversation Max was having with his mother. It had been bad enough already when they had all came down for breakfast and his mother given him _that_ look. It was something she did a lot - the pointed looks that told him he had got caught from a lie, or that she knew something.

"So, what are you doing today?", Calvin asked the whole table.

The six kids glanced at each other, before a few of them shrugged.

"We need to take the dogs out", El pointed out, looking at Will.

"True", the boy nodded.

"Are both of your parents at work today?", Calvin asked.

"Yeah", Will nodded. "Mom left in the morning, and Jim's shift starts in the afternoon."

"How are you settling now that Jonathan has left for New York?", Edith asked, offering Mike also a soft smile. "And Nancy, too."

Will and Mike both shrugged. Of course it was weird and they missed their siblings, but...

"I miss them", El spoke up, eyeing her plate.

"...But they'll come home soon", Mike pointed out, more to El than anyone else. "On Thanksgiving."

"For three days", she sighed. "And it's weeks away."

Mike eyed her, wondering if there was something he could do. He didn't come up with anything, at least not at that moment.

 

The kids moved over to Will and El's home in the afternoon, and immediately took the dogs out to the nearby field.

Mike watched El, at her badge-covered jean jacket and messy hair. She had her white sneakers on, paired with the purple pants that had become his favorite thing to see on her. He was sure that no one had ever caught his eye like that, never in his life before.

She was currently standing side by side with Lucas, the two talking about something in hushed whispers. He, Will, Dustin, and Max on the other hand were a little further away from them, throwing sticks for the two dogs. Or in his case, stalking their two friends who apparently had a secret of their own.

 

"How do you feel his nightmares?", Lucas asked, keeping his voice low.

"I don't know", El murmured, eyes on her brother. "Because of the connection, maybe...", she trailed off.

"You think it's, I don't know, automatic, after how much you have spoke like that?", the boy asked.

"I showed him something, too."

"...Like a memory?"

El nodded. "From the lab. It worked."

"Without touching him?", Lucas confirmed, him now also eyeing Will.

"I was in the kitchen, he was in the living room."

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows in thought. He had so many questions, but he knew that most of them wouldn't get an answer. She probably didn't have them either. 

"I feel what he feels", El told him softly, gaining his attention. "If he's too scared, sad... It's not nice, Lucas. You don't want that."

The boy turned his gaze onto the ground, feeling like he had been caught while doing something wrong. 

"I can't control it either", she continued. "He feels them too, when it's my nightmare."

"Yeah?", he whispered. 

"Yes. You don't want that."

"What if I do?", Lucas said, before he even thought over the words.

El grasped onto his arm gently. "It hurts", she told him, peering at his face. 

He glanced at her, noticing her worry filled eyes. "I know", he mumbled.

"Will doesn't want you to be hurt, too." 

For some reasons those few words she spoke, they brought him hope at the same time that his heart felt heavier. 

 

"What were you talking about?", Dustin asked El and Lucas, who joined the rest of their friends after a few minutes.

"Dreams", El answered, not wanting to lie.

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows at her, gaining an innocent glance from her in return.

"OH!", Max got out, turning to them excitedly. "Now I remember!"

"What?", Mike asked, throwing the stick which Rocket had just brought to him. 

"El spoke in her sleep last night", the girl sniggered.

"What did she say?", Dustin asked immediately, grinning at the girls.

"She called me 'carrots'", Max laughed.

Mike glanced at El, who had scrunched up her nose in wonder, as the rest laughed at the new nickname. He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his mouth after taking a look at her.

"I did?", El stared her friend. 

"Yeah", Max nodded, her laughter dying down a little but the grin never leaving her face.

"When?", the girl asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I don't remember."

"Just before you fell asleep, like in deep sleep, I think."

El simply stared at her friend for a while, before her face softened and she giggled. "Carrots."

Lucas laughed, giving the girl's head a pat. "Now she remembers!"

"Is this a thing now?", Dustin confirmed. "Because that's awesome, Carrots."

"No", Max said strongly. "Only for her."

"Why not?", Lucas whined.

"Because I call her weirdo", the girl pointed out. "But I say it with love. So did she."

"She called you carrots...with love?", Will joined the conversation, chuckling softly at the idea.

"You should've been there, she even smiled and all."

"No, I believe you. But she also looks at eggos like that, with love", Dustin said, gaining a hit to his arm. "Stop hitting me, I bruise like a prune!"

"Don't mock me, then!"

"I want food", El said, not wanting anyone to fight, and begun walking towards home. The dogs followed her after she was further away from her friends, happily jogging alongside her.

The rest followed her lead, everyone of them knowing what she was doing. It was her gentle way to prove a point, had been as long as they had known her, showing them that she was either bored, tired, angry or just wanted out of the situation. 

El glanced behind, before locking her eyes with Mike's. He offered her a small smile which the girl returned. She then reached out to him with a hand, and he took a few jogging steps to get to her side.

Mike laced their fingers, eyeing her with a happy blush on his cheeks. She bit onto her lip shyly, before she turned her gaze away from his eyes and onto the ground.

" _My eyes!_ ", Max complained loudly behind them. 

"I feel like I should wash mine with soap", Dustin agreed.

"Do you have bleach, Will?", Max continued. "I think I should drink some."

"No", Will said, sounding horrified. "...But we have soap", he added as an afterthought.

El rolled her eyes as they kept walking. "We could make macaroni and cheese?", she asked Mike, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Huh?", he turned to her again, blinking a few times at the sudden change of topic.

"You like it, right?", she confirmed. "Mac and cheese?"

"Yeah", Mike nodded, breaking into a grin. 

"Let's make it", El hummed softly.

 

Max had tripped on their way back, ending up in a muddy puddle, and El had told the girl to get a change of clothing from her closet. Or maybe pressured was more of an accurate word. But after choosing some of her friend's most simple clothes, a hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, she left the room to return downstairs.

_"You like her, just say so."_

Lucas' voice came from downstairs, and she stopped at the top of the staircase.

_"I do, it's just..."_

Max eyebrows furrowed after hearing Dustin's voice. She had thought it was Lucas and Mike - which didn't actually make sense after thinking about it for a few seconds more. 

Everyone knew that Mike liked El, he didn't need to be pressured to say so.

 _"You're being stupid"_ , Lucas huffed.

 _"But... She's amazing. She's the prettiest girl I've ever seen. And me...?"_ , Dustin sighed, his sad voice making Max's heart hurt. _"I don't think she would go for me."_

Max sat down on the top step of the stairs, leaning her face onto her hands. If she ever found out who the girl was, she would beat her up. No doubt about that. And if the girl was that stupid already, it couldn't possibly do any harm either. 

If there was a person that idiotic in the world, she didn't deserve even a smile from Dustin.


	37. And the steel rails are cold and hard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Sweet **MamaFran** approached me about doing an audio book about **Never gonna give you up** , and I gave her my permission to do so! 
> 
> The leading roles are still missing, so think about it:
> 
> https://www.castingcall.club/projects/never-gonna-give-you-up-stranger-things-fanmade-book-audio-book-auditions
> 
>  
> 
> I'm still wondering how this became so popular, something I seriously wrote to myself after I got the idea. What if I hadn't begun posting this? It's weird to even think about that now.
> 
> Thank you for the thoughtful comments -they mean so much to me- and kudos, once again <3
> 
> Love, preciousbean

**And the steel rails are cold and hard**

 

Mike beamed when he finally got to sit beside El in a class, where they also had double desks instead of normal ones. Their usual classroom was at the moment flooded due to a broken pipe, but he couldn't care less about that.

English was one of the hardest subjects for El, and the fact that the teacher kept an eye on her too, because of her "background", didn't really help her. So, despite the tingling feeling and the need to keep glancing at the girl, Mike tried to keep his focus on the lesson.

That was until a hand came to his vision, gently pushing his arm from the way, and came to rest near the corner of his notebook. He glanced at her and broke into a shy smile, when she begun drawing something to the outer margin. 

A circle--, no, an eggo, clearly. She added a grid on it. Then a few small flowers, scattered around, a few of them colored with the blue pen she used. It was adorable and he wanted to join her and to draw something himself, but he didn't know what. Swallowing, he participated with a small and clumsy heart.

After seeing it, El let out a soft hum of laughter and glanced at him with a smile. Then she drew another heart next to his.

 

One of the weirdest things about high school, in El's opinion, was PE. The boys and girls had it at the same time but they always did it separately, even though they usually shared the gymnasium or the track around the football field. 

"Five minute break!", their teacher yelled to them, after blowing onto her whistle.

El got up easily from the planking position they had been in, giving Max a pointed look as they walked to the side for their wattle bottles.

She had nothing against a work out, really, nor having one the first thing in the morning. But the whole concept was still rather new to her - to exercise in a form that wasn't swimming or running, while being monitored, and also doing it in a group.

Well... Basically everything she had to do with people she didn't know was out of her comfort zone.

"Basketball", Max wiggled her eyebrows playfully, smirking at the look on her friend's face.

"Is it horrible?", El asked in a small voice, not wanting to draw any attention from the surrounding girls. 

The redhead shook her head, after taking a sip of water. "You know the basics, we've practiced them for two weeks", she pointed out. "We'll just play."

"I haven't played it before."

"I know, just...", Max shrugged. "Keep to the sides? And if you feel comfortable then get into the game more. Don't stress about it."

El nodded, first glancing at the girls around them and then at the ball-bag leaning against the wall.

 

The boys were having a small game on the other end of the gym. Mike sat at the side with Will and a few others, dreading for his turn to play again. A shove to his arm interrupted his inner beating and panic, and he turned to his friend.

"Look at El", Will told him, offering a brief smile before turning his head back. Mike followed his gaze to the other end of the gym, where the girls were currently planking.

He easily spotted El, the only girl wearing bright pink sport shorts, who was stretching her legs in the air one at a time without a care in the world. Just seeing her made him smile. He glanced at Max then who was apparently amused by her friend's actions, based on her shaking shoulders and down-dropped head.

"She makes it look so easy", Will sniggered softly. "But to be fair, she has trained at home."

The boy by his side furrowed his eyebrows a little. "She has? When?"

"Since school begun, I think."

"She works so much", Mike mumbled under his breath.

"I know. I think some of the girls really got to her."

"...What? Who? And when?"

Will turned to his friend, eyes wide. "She...she didn't tell you?", he asked in a whisper.

"Tell me about what?", Mike pressed, glancing at El again.

"Um..."

"Will?"

The coach whistled, before calling all the boys to him.

"Ask her about it, okay?", Will murmured, getting up from his seat.

Shaking his head Mike trailed behind the boy, the two of them going to stand next to Dustin and Lucas. 

"Boys", the coach smirked. "This is your lucky day."

 

"Girls, we're trying something new. You'll play a match against the boys."

"No way!", Nora, one of Jennifer's friends sighed and glanced at the boys with a disgusted look on her face. 

El on the other hand glanced over where Mike and the boys stood, her heart skipping a beat at the idea of playing against him again. 

"Yes way", the woman told them sternly. "If you play well, we can have any sport you want next week. Now, half of you on the benches--."

 

Mike grinned widely, when El walked over to where he stood on the court. She smiled back at him, stopping only a few feet away.

"Are you excited?", he asked, trying to push the other question on his mind away for now.

She shrugged, eyeing him with her head slightly tilted to the side. "Are you?"

Furrowing his eyebrows Mike looked away, glancing around them. "I don't know...", he trailed off. 

"Mike", El spoke up softly, and he turned his gaze back on her. "What's wrong?"

Sometimes he wondered what powers she actually possessed, if only saying his name aloud got him to loosen up and tell her everything he had on his mind.

"I'm not good at sports", he mumbled, scratching at his arm with a frown on his face. "Especially at basketball."

"It's a game", she reminded him. 

"I know, El, but..."

"You're a strategist, Mike. And this is a game."

The blow on the whistle interrupted their conversation, leaving a confusedly smiling boy watching after his girlfriend who begun walking to her own starting spot.

 

"It seems that we're playing against the girls, because the coach has a bet or something with their teacher", one of Lucas' football teammates told him. 

"Really?", he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

"Yeah, but that's stupid", Andrew sighed. "The girls don't stand a chance, what's that woman even thinking..."

"Don't know", Lucas chuckled, knowing just how fierce El and Max were. The other girls probably couldn't win on their own, but with the two on their side... It was definitely interesting. He had no idea what would happen.

"What's funny, Midnight?", James asked, from where he sat behind them at the benches. "Did you just now realize how big of a losers your friends are? They can't even throw a ball."

Lucas kept facing the court, trying to ignore the bully even though his heart and brain told him otherwise.

"Knock it off", Dustin sighed from his friend's side, while keeping his gaze on the game too. 

"Did you say something, Toothless?"

"You know what he said", Lucas spoke up, watching intently when one of the guys threw the ball at Will.

"I wasn't talking to _you_ ", James told him. "But look at that, Fairy actually caught it! Must've been the first for him."

Lucas bit his teeth, keeping his eyes on his friend. Will passed the ball cleanly to another guy, and his heart felt full as he watched him. He was so proud, and so happy... 

And at the same time so fucking pissed at the idiot sitting behind him.

"Let the guy play", Andrew spoke up tiredly, running a hand through his blond hair. "We're on the same team, if you didn't remember."

"But I don't get it", James snorted. "You would think he would be better at handling balls with his _interests_ ", he said, erupting laughter from a few guys behind them.

Lucas screwed his eyes shut for a brief second. "Just fuck off, already", he got out. Dustin tensed by his side and he knew his friend didn't like what he would do, but he didn't care. 

"Ooh! Midnight's picking up a fight?"

"I'm telling you, just _shut up_."

"Lucas...", Dustin said, voice pleading him to stop, as he placed a hand onto his shoulder.

"What's wrong with what I said? Is it because it's true?", James drawled. "Has Fairy earned his name?"

Lucas stood up and turned to face James, Dustin doing the same by his side. "Fuck. _Off_ ", he growled, his hands clenching onto tight fists.

"I was right?", James laughed, his friends sniggering by his sides. "Fairy and Midnight", he smirked smugly. "It caught you too, you know, his fairy-dust."

 

" _BOYS_ ", the coach yelled suddenly. "Ten seconds, or its detention for both!"

El caught the ball just as everyone on the court stopped, immediately looking at where the man was rushing over to. 

She saw James punch Lucas, and that was it. A couple seconds later the basketball hit the bully's face with a loud slam, bouncing back to the court afterwards and silencing the whole gym.

Lucas and Dustin stared at the reddening nose of the boy in front of them, before blood begun dripping down onto his shirt.

Mike and Will turned to El wide eyed, while Max beamed at her proudly. 

The silence lasted for a few long seconds, during which El lowered her hands back to her sides before her eyes met the ones of the coach.

"HOPPER! Out! You too, boys - _NOW!_ "

 

"He shoved me first!", James exclaimed, pointing at the other boy in the room. "Without a reason!"

Lucas grabbed El's wrist before she could rush towards the bully, dragging her back to his side. 

"Put the papers back to your nose. And don't drop blood on my floors", the coach added. "Did you start it, Sinclair?"

"Yes, coach", Lucas got out in defeat. 

El looked up at him and he could feel her worry in his mind. The boy simply shook his head at her a little, and just like that her feelings were gone.

"Just out of the blue, without a reason?", the man questioned.

"No", Lucas said, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could. "He was out of line, said rude things about my friends--."

"And what about you, Hopper? What's your excuse?"

"He punched Lucas", El frowned at the man.

The coach looked around the room, at all the three of them. "I have to call your parents."

 

But the man hadn't apparently thought his plan through, not even the slightest. 

Now along with the three teenagers, his room was occupied by the chief of police, and a man with an army background, topped with one hysterically screaming mother. 

"Look what _your_ son did to _my_ boy!", the woman turned to look at Lucas' father. "His nose is broken!"

"It's not broken", Samuel stated calmly.

"How do _you_ know!?"

"I know what a broken nose looks like, ma'am, I've seen plenty."

"It wasn't Sinclair, although the boys were doing just fine by themselves", the coach spoke up, casting a pointed look at El.

Jim placed his hands on the girl's shoulders and she leaned her back against him, heart beating fast. She knew she had crossed the line, when Jim had walked into the room with a frown on his face. 

Cribbing onto the material of her shorts with both hands, she held her breath as the woman turned to her.

"...You hit my son?"

El shook her head fast, opening her mouth a few times. She couldn't get even a word out.

"Miss Hopper threw a basketball at your son's face, after seeing her friend get into a fight."

Looking down at his daughter, Jim snorted. The girl tilted her head up and peered at him wide eyed. He offered her a small smile, with a corner of his mouth, before he faced the angry woman again.

"Do you find this funny, chief?", James' mother asked, looking between the two with a disbelieving look on her face.

"No, no--."

"Then why are you _smiling_? You're a grown man, for crying out loud! Act like one--."

Jim and Samuel shared amused looks, at the same time that El turned her gaze on Lucas. The boy was staring at the floor, and she thought he looked like he was ready to burst into tears. 

When Jim ushered her to go sit down too, with a gentle stroke to the back of her head, El quietly sat next to Lucas. She placed her hand over the boy's as they waited for James' mother to calm down, trying to come up with something comforting to say.

Lucas didn't even glance at her, but he turned his hand around and grabbed hers slightly. The look on his face was one she didn't recognize, but it made her heart hurt. 

_It's okay_ , she told him gently. _Detention isn't too bad, Max said so._

He looked bad, as his left eye was swelling and bruised, but she saw the small smile that briefly crossed his face. But it was gone as fast as it had appeared. The unfamiliar expression was back immediately after and she hated it. 

El glanced at James, whose nose wasn't bleeding anymore but he hadn't thrown away the bloody papers either. She scrunched up her nose at them.

 _He said something bad._ Lucas gave her hand a slight squeeze, as he kept his gaze on the floor before them, and she bit her lip in thought. _About Will._ She watched him screw his undamaged eye shut, and knew she was right. 

The adults were still sorting out the situation, and while Jim and Samuel both stayed calm, James' mother was still as loud as when she had first rushed into the room ten minutes ago.

"Just let me take my son to see the nurse!"

"The kids can go, but I'd like to change a few words between us adults, if that's okay."

The woman huffed, annoyed that she wasn't getting her will, but sat down onto a chair obeying the coach's words.

 

"Does it hurt?", El asked gently, watching Lucas press the ice bag to his eye.

The boy hissed, closing his other eye too because of the pain. "Yeah..."

El frowned at the face he made. 

The two had been ushered back to the hallway before the small office, and were now standing outside the door waiting for their fathers. James' mother had already rushed past them, giving them a rude glance while doing so.

"Do you...", she whispered, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her shorts. "Do you want to tell me?"

Lucas shook his head, before wincing as the ice bag rubbed at his throbbing skin. He went to lean against the wall, the girl following his lead.

"It won't go away, the problem, if you don't do anything", she reminded him.

He turned to her, to look at her with his undamaged eye, swallowing hard. "But it's too much", he whispered, turning his gaze on to the floor again. "It's... He doesn't deserve it."

"I know", El murmured, tilting her head to rest it on his shoulder.

"He's the kindest I know", Lucas got out, before wiping his healthy eye with his free hand.

"He is", she whispered.

"I like him", he breathed out. The words rolled off of his tongue, the meaning tingling inside him before it begun slowly morphing together with the heavy feeling that had settled onto his gut. "But I can't do this to him." 

"...What do you mean?"

"They'd ruin it, other people", he got out, sniffing. "They'd ruin everything. I don't want that, El, I can't do it to him."

El closed her eyes, wishing the ache on her chest to go away. "You want Will to be happy", she whispered.

"Yeah", Lucas whispered.

"What if it doesn't make him happy?", she asked softly. "What you choose?"

She heard the boy sigh deeply before taking a deep ragged breath. "Then it's shit."

The door to the office opened a moment later and their fathers walked into the hallway. El straightened up immediately after seeing Jim, as did Lucas after locking his gaze with his father's.

"You have detention on Friday, but that's it", Jim sighed, lifting his eyebrows at his daughter. "I assume you had a perfectly valid reason for what you did, so we'll discuss it at home. Sounds good?"

El stared at him, fiddling with the insides of her pockets. "You're not angry?", she whispered. 

"No, of course not", the man chuckled. "The kid had it coming. He obviously didn't know who he was messing with."

"But violence isn't the only way to handle those kind of situations", Samuel spoke up, motioning Lucas to him. They walked further away, the father's hand on his son's shoulder, speaking in hushed whispers.

"I have to get back to work, soon", Jim said, glancing at his clock before turning to look at the girl before him. "Um... Straight home from school, okay?"

"Yes." El stared up to him with her brown eyes wide, looking unsure.

"Honey", he sighed, opening his arms. The girl walked into the embrace, pressing her face against his uniform. "I'm not mad", he chuckled softly, stroking her hair which was in a messy ponytail.

She nodded.

"...I'm surprised you even used a basketball." 

El hugged Jim a bit tighter and the man stroked her back in return.

 

After the situation between the three kids had finally been 'solved', as they knew nothing had really changed at all, their PE class had finished and their friends were already in their next class.

Luckily it was only math, as El was fine with skipping it. She promised Lucas to help him with his homework when they walked to lunch together through the crowded hallways, after they had finally been allowed to take a shower and change out of their gym clothes.

When they walked into the cafeteria the whispers begun immediately.

El glanced at the other teens with her eyes open wide, following Lucas who simply pushed past them after finding their friends' table from the crowded room.

"There they are!", Max cheered loudly, causing Mike, Will, and Dustin to look at them too.

"Dude, your eye!", Dustin exclaimed as the two sat down.

Will eyed Lucas from the opposite side of the table. "It must hurt, huh?", he said gently, worry on his face and voice.

"Yeah", the boy murmured, placing his brown bag onto the table carelessly. 

"What happened?", Mike asked, immediately after El sat down next to him. "What did the coach say?"

"He called our parents", she answered, looking at Lucas. "We got detention", she added before glancing at all of her friends. Then her gaze stopped onto Will and she quickly looked away.

 _Dustin told us what he said_ , Will told her, his shame and guilt oozing into her head.

El kept her gaze on the table, it darting between her hands and lunch. She didn't want to answer him, not now. Her mind was a complete mess because of Lucas' words and Will couldn't know, at least not from her. 

Will waited for her to answer, keeping his eyes on the girl, but she didn't. She fumbled with her hands on the table, and even looking at the nervous gesture made him feel bad.

"Luckily nothing more, right?", Mike asked, taking a hold of her hand which she rested on the table. "Detention isn't probably that bad."

"Yes", she agreed softly, tangling their fingers together clumsily. He brushed her knuckles gently with his other hand, over and over again, the touch soothing her nerves and the storm inside her.

"Everyone's talking about it, you know?", Max spoke up, nudging El's leg under the table. "About the brave girl who went in between of a fight."

"Yeah", Dustin chuckled a little. "And the fact that James got a bloody nose because of that girl."

"And the team's got your back, Lucas", Max added. "If that's what you're afraid of. We'll talk with the coach if he--."

"Cool", Lucas interrupted her, not lifting his gaze from the table. "Thanks."

The girl stared at him for a while, eyebrows furrowing. "No problem", she muttered.

None of them were stupid. 

Max, Mike, Will, and Dustin all saw that something was going on with their two friends but they knew better than to pressure them. Instead they slowly changed the subject into normal things, trying to ignore the fact that neither El or Lucas touched their lunches at all.

 

Mike couldn't help but tug at El's hand after school as they walked to their bikes, before she had to go home. 

"Will said that you've been practicing at home", he begun, swallowing after seeing the confused look on her face. "For PE."

"Yes", El nodded.

"Because some girls said something to you", Mike finished, eyeing her with his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

She scrunched up her nose, turning her gaze away. 

"If they bullied you, El, you can tell me", he whispered.

"They said that PE is important", she told him seriously. "And others won't like me if I'm bad at it."

Mike pulled at her hand, forcing her to stop. "Who said that?"

"...Nora."

Huffing, he got closer to her. "Well she's stupid, okay? I like you, even if you weren't good at it. I'm not good at sports either, and--."

"And I like you", El completed his sentence on her own, causing him to blush.

"Y-yeah", Mike murmured. "So it's okay."

"Hm-m", she nodded, before offering him a small smile. "Thank you."

"For what?", he asked softly, smiling shyly at the sight of her smile.

"Making me happy."

Mike turned his face to the side, grinning widely at their clasped hands and feeling the heat burn on his face. "...You make me happy too."

 

When Jonathan finally came home for the first time after moving to New York, at the end of the week, he immediately had arms full with both Will and El as the two simultaneously rushed to him.

"Hi", he chuckled softly, hugging them back just as tight as they did. "Did you miss me?", he asked with a wide smile, looking down at his two smaller siblings.

"Of course", Will told him.

"Yes", El nodded. She had waited for thanksgiving for a month, just so that she would get to see him and Nancy.

"Good", Jonathan hummed, ruffling his bother's hair while patting his sister's head. "I missed you, too."

 

The evening went by too fast for the family's liking, all the three children and also the adults sharing every single story from the past months that mattered.

"You already got your first detention?", Jonathan asked El, after Jim had told him what had happened a few days ago.

They had settled into the living room after dinner, most of their light coming from the fire crackling in the fireplace, all of them wrapped in quilts.

The girl turned her gaze away, scrunching up her nose. "...Yes."

"It's fine, sweetie", Joyce tried to tell her. "You did what you felt was right and defended your friend."

"That's pretty amazing", Jonathan agreed softly. 

"The kid looked like he had been hit with a rock", Jim drawled from his recliner. 

"Or that he had run to a wall", Will agreed, fiddling with his quilt's corner.

Joyce covered her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh my..."

"Really?", Jonathan got out, before turning to El who sat by his side. "You're sure you didn't use your powers, at all?", he asked after a few seconds, voice once again gentle.

El chewed her lip in thought, before she shrugged.

"Guess that doesn't matter anymore, huh."

"But Jon, what about you?", Jim asked. "School's what you hoped for and life's good?"

"Yeah", Jonathan nodded, glancing at El with a smile as she came to lean to his side. "Everything's good."

Jim and Joyce shared a knowing look.

"And Nancy?", his mother asked then, smiling encouragingly.

"Mom."

"Yes, sweetie?"

"You'll see her tomorrow, you can ask her."

"Oh... Okay", Joyce said, startled. "She's coming over?"

"Yes, to see this one right here", Jonathan chuckled, hugging El to his side gently. 

"In the morning?", the girl asked immediately, turning to him with her eyes bright and hopeful.

"When she can, yeah... I think Holly has missed her, too."

"Holly has actually adopted El as her other sister", Will revealed with a chuckle, causing their parents to smile. "She's ready to trade Mike for her."

"That makes sense", Jonathan grinned. "I would want to do that, too."

El frowned at her brothers. "What's wrong with Mike?"

"Nothing", Will grinned at her. "But we'd rather have you."

"I don't think he would enjoy hugging me as much as you do, if I'm being honest", Jonathan added with a chuckle, erupting laugher among the rest of his family. 

"You like hugs that much?", El wondered softly.

"Well, yeah... I think everyone does."

She nodded slowly. "I do, too."

"That's not a surprise, sis, you're a cuddle addict", Jonathan told her with a soft smile.

El stared at him with a slight frown. "...What's 'an addict'?"

"Oh, um... Like Jim, with his cigarettes--."

"Not cool, buddy...", the man murmured.

"--but just with something better, as in hugs."

"I feel attacked, honey, help me."

"Hush, you smoke thrice as much as I do, it's the truth", Joyce told him offhandedly.

"...Why are you all against me?"

 

"Hi, sweetie", Joyce smiled, as she sat down next to El on the girl's bed.

"Hi." El begun to lift the guitar off of her lap, but got stopped by a gentle hand.

"No, no", the woman said fast. "You can practice, I won't bother you."

"You want me to?"

"Yes, I'd love you to."

El scrunched up her nose briefly, glancing down at the instrument. She had played a few songs for Jonathan to hear, as he had asked her to, before he had retired into his room. "You want to listen?"

Joyce smiled at the girl softly, nodding. "Of course."

And with that El played the song she had been practicing, from the beginning. 

The guitar was Jim's old one, which he had found when they had moved in together in the previous spring. He had stopped playing it after a few years, but had saved it in its leather case in the hopes of getting back into it later.

But never had he thought that some day his daughter would be the one to accidentally find it, let alone get interested in playing it. 

It had begun by innocently plugging the strings and marveling over the sounds, one rainy Sunday evening. Jim had found El from the basement, sitting on the couch with his old guitar on her lap and holding it the wrong way for a right handed person. 

He had first taught her to change the strings into new ones, then showed her how to tune the guitar. Afterwards they had searched through some boxes for his old self-learning booklets, before the guitar became their thing for a few months.

That was until El actually bypassed Jim with her quick learning phase. The man had felt like he was dragging along her process, possibly slowing her down too. So now she practiced alone, whenever she got the time to spare for her new hobby. 

The song ended and Joyce watched how El turned the pages with her mind, before stopping to another song. _Romance d'amour._ With furrowed eyebrows she begun to play, slowly plugging the strings with her nails.

Joyce listened to the gentle but sad melody, watching her daughter play. 

Jonathan had always liked music, but he had never showed any interest in playing it himself. Whereas Will listened to music when it was being played, while he didn't have any favorite bands nor artists that he could name if asked to. And neither had El, but she liked all music in general. 

After the song ended the girl stared at the notes laying on the bed, in front of her crossed legs.

"I like that song", Joyce said, stroking at the back of the girl's hair gently.

"It's a sad one", El spoke up, plugging at the strings in deep thought. "He loved her."

"Who?"

"Who wrote this. He loved her... A lot."

"Oh", Joyce whispered, watching the girl curiously and not quite sure of what to say.

"It's beautiful", El said, offering her a small smile, "but sad."

"What happened to them?", the woman asked, peering at the notes. "There's only the name of the song. How do you know who wrote it, sweetie?"

"I don't. No one knows, I looked from the library", the girl explained gently, plugging at a few strings again. "I feel it when I play."

"You do?", Joyce whispered. 

"I thought it was only with pictures", El said slowly, "that I can feel them. But he... He was sad and lonely. He loved her, but she had to go."

"Where did she go?"

The girl shook her head, eyes cast on the notes. "I don't know."

Joyce wrapped an arm around El's shoulders, before kissing her temple. The girl leaned into the embrace, gently putting her guitar aside. 

They sat a while like that, both of them thinking about the song and the story behind it. 

"Music is stronger than you sometimes remember", Joyce said after a long silence. "It's full of emotions... Some of the songs are someone's memories, or stories they want to tell to their loved ones. But people forget the true meaning after a time."

"It happens about other things, too", El said slowly. "People forget the meaning. They do bad things, instead of good ones."

"I know, baby", the woman whispered. 

"What they did was wrong", the girl said, her voice thin. "What they did to me."

Joyce couldn't help but cry too, when El broke into tears, as she hugged the girl tighter. 

Sometimes Joyce thought that someone was testing them, playing a cruel game on their expenses and watching how they managed through it. The death, violence, and monsters loomed over them all, in a way that not many other families had to ever experience in their whole lives.

They were strong, all of them. That was what she counted on every day.

But some things never changed about their family, no matter who walked out of the door or who walked in. The things each of them had gone through... They would scar them for the rest of their lives, haunt them through the twists and turns on the road - no matter where they turned. 

There was no door they could close behind them, to get away from the bad memories and nightmares. 

"I love you, sweetie, so so much", Joyce murmured. 

They could only try to light up the darkness and make it as beautiful as it could be.

"I-I love you too, mom."


	38. Nothing ever lasts forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I've been sick, but I'm getting better already! (Was originally supposed to post this yesterday.)
> 
> Thank you for your comments and kudos, once again! xx

**Nothing ever lasts forever**

 

It was two weeks until Christmas, but Hawkins still didn't look like the towns in the picture-books Holly had begun to bring El every time she went over to the Wheeler house. Towns covered in snow, festive lights, Christmas trees - their town only had the lights and the trees. 

Everyone else kept talking about snow and how the lack of it downed their holiday spirit, but El couldn't relate to it. The lights were still quite pretty, in her opinion.

After Lucas' and Max's football season came to an end for the winter, their team had a party one Friday evening. And of course Max had wanted El to come with her, who had only agreed after a long begging while none of the three boys wanted to join. 

So the three of them promised to go over at Mike's later in the evening, where their friends would wait for them. And Lucas, being such a good friend, had promised that they would come by no later than half nine.

"There'll be beer", he reminded the girls, as they made their way to the front door.

Scrunching up her nose a little, El glanced at the boy as they stood side by side on the front porch of an old looking house.

Lucas shrugged at her. "But you don't have to drink it."

"We know", Max rolled her eyes, before opening the door without even bothering to knock. 

El trailed in behind her friend, looking around with wide eyes. 

The house was completely packed with people, mostly from upper grades. She didn't know anyone of them. The stereos were blasting a song she wasn't sure if she had ever even heard before, and the teens danced along its beat while mingling among their friends.

"Well...", Max turned around, grinning at her friends. "Let's have fun, shall we?"

Lucas nodded, glancing at El and offering her a supportive smile. 

 

Mike, Dustin, and Will had decided to play a few rounds of different board games, as they waited for their friends. They had stacked a few ready, in a carefully chosen order, in case they would play them through faster than expected.

"It's really weird", Dustin sighed, after shuffling the game's cards ready and begun dealing them. "With just the three of us."

"Yeah..", Will agreed slowly, staring at the game board.

"But they'll come over later", Mike pointed out, forcing a smile onto his face. "Besides, they're having fun, right? So, even if we didn't want to go, it doesn't mean that we couldn't have fun, too."

Dustin chuckled. "That's true, man."

"So... Let's play?", Will suggested, breaking into a small smile too.

"Yeah. Let's play!"

 

El wasn't sure if she liked house parties, if she was being completely honest to herself. It was really loud, people acted weird, and every room was full. Too full.

She stood by Lucas, who had spoke with a few of his teammates until they had, after a long pondering, decided to go check out the drink selection in the kitchen. Meanwhile Max talked with some guy from the team, further away from the two of them.

"It's our quarterback", Lucas told El, who had been glancing at her friend's direction every now and then. "Jake, he's a junior."

"Dustin would be better", El frowned, startling the boy with her honesty.

"I know, right?", he exclaimed. "They just don't get it!" 

She nodded furiously, turning her brown eyes on him. "Mental."

"Want to get something to drink?", Lucas asked, grinning from ear to ear. "I bet there's coke or something."

The smile he got in return mirrored his. "Yes."

 

In the kitchen they reunited with Lucas' friends but El also got introduced to a few more, whose names she couldn't remember even right afterwards.

"Is she your girl, Sinclair?", one of the guys asked, wiggling his eyebrows at the two of them.

Lucas shook his head. "No, El's one of my best friends", he said gently. He then wrapped an arm loosely around the girl's shoulders, when he saw the looks the guys gave her after his words. "But she's Mike's girlfriend."

"Wheeler's?"

"Yes", El nodded, accepting a cup of punch she was offered before glancing at the orange liquid. She didn't dare to point out that she would rather have had a soda.

"Cool", the guy said slowly, before motioning towards the drink he had just gave her. "That's pretty strong, by the way."

She looked at the blonde boy in wonder, before turning to her friend with questioning eyes.

"Don't drink it fast", Lucas whispered to her. "You can... Just leave it somewhere later, you don't have to finish it."

El nodded at him, understanding what he meant, before taking a cautious sip. It didn't taste that different, compared to normal punch.

 

"You know...", Jake trailed off. "I never thought I'd like read heads."

Max smirked, before looking away and taking a sip from her cup. "What a compliment", she chuckled, shaking her head a little.

"I meant that I never thought about it", he corrected himself, leaning in a little. 

She glanced at Jake, who was now closer than before and stared down at her. He was older than her, she was fully aware of it, but she wasn't sure if he was. Or maybe it was a kink, hitting on a younger girl. 

"What do you want, Jake?", Max asked with a sigh. She was curious of the answer he would give, there was no point on denying it. 

"To kiss you", the boy murmured, smirking.

"Is that right?", she raised her eyebrows, turning away.

Jake took a strand of her hair between his fingers. "Yeah", he said out with a chuckle.

Max looked down at the mug she was holding, biting her lip in thought.

Ever since overhearing about Dustin's crush, Max had tried to keep her distance. She had stopped reaching for his hair in class and stashing small toys or other things, like clips or bobby-pins, in his curls for him to find later on. She had tried to stop their playful banters too, as the giddy feeling they gave her tend to continue for too long for it to be fine and just friendly.

So maybe, just maybe she had been miserable for the past several weeks. But she was doing it for Dustin, even if it meant for her to feel low for a while. 

It wouldn't continue forever, of course not. 

It was only a crush. 

So ignoring the feeling of wanting to walk away from Jake and find El, Max stayed put where she leaned against the wall. 

 

"You want popcorn or something?", Mike suggested, eyeing his two friends. 

They had settled into the living room, as no one had been there, to watch a movie. Playing with just the three of them had got boring before they had even got fully started.

"Yeah, why not", Dustin shrugged, getting up from the couch to come and help him.

"Why didn't we go?", Will asked suddenly, staring at the television with furrowed brows.

Mike and Dustin turned their gazes on him.

"...To the party?", their friend continued, turning his gaze on the two.

"I didn't want to", Dustin told him, after thinking about the question for a while. "I don't think I like parties - once like that to be precise."

Will turned to look at Mike then, waiting for his answer.

"I don't know...", the boy told him, unsure of what to say. "The people there, I guess... I don't know them."

"But we know Lucas, El, and Max", Will reasoned. "We could've gone together with them, to... I don't know. To try it out."

"We can go next time?", Dustin suggested.

"Why didn't we go now?", Will asked again, his voice soft.

"Because I'd rather stay at home and spend time with you guys", Mike told him with a sigh. "I don't know the people there and I don't care about them, okay?"

"But...", Will begun, before stopping. He turned his gaze on his hands, which he rested on his lap.

"But we should've gone with them", Mike agreed in a low voice. 

He was getting tired of the need - tired of the little voice at the back of his head telling him to go and check on El. And at the same time he knew that she was alright. But still... He was quite sure she was having a hard time adjusting to the new scenario and to the knew people. But like he had reminded himself tens of times, Lucas and Max were there with her. She would be fine. 

And if not, she would come home a little earlier. He didn't mind that possibility either, except if she would be upset. Well, if that turned out to be the case, he would cheer her up.

Dustin glanced at his friends. "We'll go next time, alright guys?", he said, before clapping his hands and startling the two boys. "Now, let's go make some popcorn!"

Mike and Will chuckled at him, before following their over enthusiastic friend to the kitchen.

 

When Lucas had to go to the bathroom, his teammates promised to keep El company.

"So, have you ever played beer bong?", one of them, Andrew - if she remembered correctly, asked.

"No", she glanced at him shyly, shaking her head.

"It's a game, and quite fun at that", he encouraged her. "You should try it."

And El, who had learned to love different kind of games and competitions over the year, nodded.

 

That was where Lucas found her, five minutes later, in a fast paced game at the dining table.

"El?", he questioned with raised eyebrows. He watched amusedly how the girl aimed for Andrew's cup with her eyes narrowed in concentration, before throwing the ball in with success.

"Fourth one in a row!", the boys cheered, high-fiving with El who grinned widely.

Lucas went to her side at the end of the table, leaning closer so his teammates wouldn't hear. "Are you sure you can do this?", he asked, gaining a confident nod back.

"I'm winning, Lucas", she told him cheerily.

"She is", Andrew laughed, before getting his second point.

El bravely drank the cup empty, scrunching her nose at the taste while Lucas watched her wide eyed. His teammates clapped and cheered, before she continued the game.

"I just realized...", one of the boys begun, leaning onto the table. "You're the girl who beat up James, right?"

"She threw a basketball at him, but yeah", Lucas nodded, glancing at El who looked around the boys with wide eyes. 

"No wonder she's so good at this", Andrew chuckled. "I actually forgot the whole thing... Damn."

"How? Sinclair walked around with his other eye shut for almost a week, meanwhile James' nose looked like he had ran to a wall."

"I don't know, Tom", the blond boy shrugged, lifting up his next cup to drink after El threw the ball in it. "I guess I wouldn't be loosing now, if I had remembered", he said, raising his cup towards the girl at the other end of the table before downing it in one go.

And El won, not missing any of the throws but having to drink three cups herself. Lucas helped her with the last one, despite having earlier decided to not drink at all, as he couldn't watch her have even one more.

 

Lucas and El moved to the back porch, the boy guiding her gently as he held her arm. Luckily for them there was a roof guarding them from the rain that had just begun, as the sky was pouring down to no end.

"Do you feel sick?", he asked, worrying over her. He helped her down onto the top stair, after she wordlessly pointed at it.

"No", El said slowly, after sitting down. The cover of the roof stopped right after her shoes and her sneakers stayed dry, while the heavy rain slammed down an inch away from them.

"Jesus...why'd you agree to that?"

"Thought it was fun", she said, straightening her arm and cupping a hand to gather rain on it. "Where's Max?"

"I don't know", Lucas frowned, not sure if he could handle drunk El by himself. "...You want me to get her?"

"Don't have to, I just wondered."

With a small sigh, Lucas sat down next to her and she leaned to his side a little. The fresh air felt nice after the stuffed one inside the house. The music from the house was muffled up by two doors, as they had walked through a laundry room to get outside.

"Why does it feel funny?", she suddenly giggled, gaining his attention.

"Alcohol does that", Lucas chuckled, looking at the way El stared at her hands and bend her fingers one at the time.

"It tingles."

Lucas tried not to laugh, too much at least. "I should probably get you some water, or something", he said after a while. "I could go look for Max at the same time?"

El nodded slowly.

"Stay here, okay?"

"Yes", she smiled at him, before turning her eyes to the rain as Lucas got up and hurried inside.

It did feel weird, the alcohol. Like the world around her worked faster than her. She wasn't sure if she liked it, though. 

El draped her pink jacket better around herself, starting to feel the chilly December air creep under her clothes.

 

When the door opened after a few minutes, El expected to see Lucas and Max as she turned around on her seat. Instead she saw Troy, who frowned a little at the sight of her, an unlit cigarette between his lips.

"Mouth breather", El said under her breath, turning back to watch the rain again. She heard a sigh, before the boy sat down next to her on the top stair.

"Let's just stop this", he said, taking the cigarette into his hand. "I don't want to fight."

She snorted at his words, poking at her sneakers with a finger absently.

"I'm being serious."

"Whatever", El mumbled, staring at the backyard. She felt his eyes on her and turned to him when the feeling got too annoying to bear with.

Troy stared at her, before he begun slowly leaning in. 

"What 'r you doing?", she slurred out, frowning afterwards at the way her words came out.

"Shut it", the boy told her, his warm breath hitting her face.

El could smell the beer and cigarettes, which made her turn away. But he took a hold of her chin, turning her face back towards him. When his nose touched hers, she understood what he tried to do.

"No", she shoved him roughly away, before standing up and stepping onto the back yard and into the rain. 

"Why not?", Troy asked with a huff, pushing himself up from the stairs too.

"No", El shook her head, balancing herself after the movement messed with her head. She then turned on her heels and rushed out of the yard, before he had a chance to say anything else.

 

It was dark, and the rain was making its way through his clothes, but he had waited for this. He had waited for such a long time that he couldn't even believe his own eyes when he saw her.

She came from the backyard of the house, leaving the gate open behind her. She wasn't walking straight, instead she kept staggering a little every now and then, running her hand along the fence by her side. 

Her hair was longer than before. But no matter how long ago it was, when he had last seen her, he still recognized her.

He felt the thrilling rhythm in his chest again, as he watched how she almost fell. He felt alive.

_She needed him._

"Eleven", he said, coming to stand before the girl.

The brown eyes found his, and at that moment he knew he wouldn't be apart from her ever again.

 

Troy knew he had fucked up, and he had fucked up bad. 

His fathers words, getting on the Byers' and Hopper's good side - it hadn't meant that. He just... _fuck._

After throwing away his unlit cigarette, ruined by the rain, he went after the girl in hopes of still catching her. And he did, immediately running towards where he spotted the pink jacket in the dark, further away from the house. 

But she wasn't alone.

He hoped it wasn't Wheeler, or anyone of the nerds. He wasn't in a mood for a fight. But it wasn't, even though he couldn't see the face of the man clearly, the person being taller than anyone their age. 

"Wait!", Troy called as he got closer, eyes on the back of the girl. 

El trembled, swaying a little on her place, but didn't turn around. Instead, the person she was with took her in his arms and begun to carry her away. 

Troy couldn't ignore the weird feeling settling onto the pit of his stomach.

"Hey!", he shouted, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he jogged closer, eyeing the figure from behind. "What are you doing?"

"Get back", the man said over his shoulder, causing the boy to take a few steps backwards. 

He didn't want to, but it was like his legs worked on their own. He couldn't move forward either, even though he tried to take a step towards them. It didn't work, his legs didn't move at all. 

Troy watched the man carry El to the road, where he stopped and turned sideways. That was when he finally saw her face.

Nothing about it, her face and the situation, seemed right. It had once been everything he had wanted, seeing the girl and her nerd friends to suffer. 

But now that she stared at him with her eyes open wide, head stiffly tucked on the man's shoulder... It was worse than the look she had gave him, when he had tried to hit her almost an year ago. Seeing it now didn't make him happy like it had back then.

"Do you know him?", Troy pressed, trying to move his feet, but she didn't answer. "Fucking hell. _El_ , answer me!", he shouted angrily, heart pounding in his chest. "Where are you going!?"

She closed her eyes tightly, breaking their stare, just when a car pulled next to the man. 

Troy had just enough time to read the plate. 

 

Lucas had searched every room for Max and was starting to get frustrated. None of their teammates knew where she was either, so asking other people turned out to be useless. 

Shaking his head, the boy rushed upstairs. He felt like he should get back already, but at the same time he needed to find Max. She would know how to handle El, as he seriously had no clue.

The girl wasn't in the line to the bathroom, either. 

As a final resort, Lucas opened the door to the nearest room only to find it empty. The next one had a group of people, lying on a bed. He didn't spot a red head among them. He took a peek into the third room, but after seeing a couple making out he closed the door.

Then his eyes widened and he reopened it fast, the door bumping against the wall. 

"Max?", he asked, bewildered.

Max and Jake, their team's quarterback, pulled apart and turned to him. Both of them stared at him for a few seconds, before the girl's eyes widened and she pulled away from the older boy's hold.

"Fuck", Jake muttered under his breath, running a hand through his hair. "You can't tell, Sinclair."

Lucas stared at him, before turning to Max. "Just come with me, Max."

She took a few steps towards him, before Jake rushed past her. "You can't tell anyone, alright?", he pressed, staring down at the shorter boy. "The guys, they wouldn't like--." 

"Look, man", Lucas shook his head. "My friend had a few beers and I need Max's help with her."

"El's drunk?", Max gasped, before rushing out of the room with her friend.

"I went to the bathroom, and the boys got her to play beer bong", Lucas told her. "She's at the back porch..."

 

"22A6534", Troy said as he ran back inside for paper, pushing people out of the way. "22A6534!"

"What are you doing?", James asked as he came to his friend, who hurriedly scribbled down the plate number.

"I have to go, to the station", Troy answered, swallowing hard. "Where's Max? And Sinclair?", he got out, frantically looking around them.

"In the living room", James begun, following his friend who rushed away. "What the fuck, man?"

Troy spotted the two, as they were looking around the room with furrowed eyebrows. 

"You need to come with me, now", he said, gaining Lucas and Max's attention. "Something happened, to El. We need--."

"What happened to her?", Max growled, coming closer and taking a hold of his wet jacket. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!"

"What the hell did you do to her?", Lucas pressed after reaching them.

"Someone took her!", Troy got out, silencing everyone in the hearing range. "We need to go, now!" 

 

They stuffed into a car, after a helpful senior had heard them and offered to give them a ride.

"I swear, if you did something, her dad will kill you", Max growled from the back seat.

Troy's hands shook, but not because of the threats.

"I'll kill him myself", Lucas spat.

Troy had no idea what he should tell the chief. 

 

"What?", Jim asked slowly, closing his eyes. 

It had to be a nightmare, it had to. But when he opened his eyes, the teens were still standing in front of him with the same worried and shocked looks plastered on their faces.

"Someone--."

"WHO TOOK HER?", the man yelled, his voice booming in the room. 

Max and Lucas weren't affected by it, knowing the man well already, but Troy's eyes widened and he took a cautious step back.

"Chief, you alright?", one of the officers came to the doorway, looking around worriedly.

"YOU--", Jim begun, before breathing out in an attempt to try to calm himself. "You're saying that someone took El, someone took my daughter, right before your eyes. And you didn't try to stop him?", he asked slowly, glaring at the boy before him.

"I couldn't, chief. My legs--, I-I couldn't move, I tried", Troy gulped. "But I got the plate", he hurried to say, pulling the piece of paper out of his pocket and offering it to the man. The chief snatched it from his grasp, immediately opening its folds. "I wrote it down. And it was a red car."

"Callahan", Jim said immediately, after copying the note for himself. He offered the piece of paper without a word to the man who still stood at the doorway.

"Of course, Hop", Callahan said in a low voice, taking the paper before hurrying out of the room.

Jim rubbed at his face, making sure to look everywhere else than at the framed picture on his desk. "Which way did they go?", he muttered. "Did you see?"

"Away from town, I think", Troy answered. "Someone else drove the car."

"What did he look like, the man you saw? How old was he? What did he wear?"

"Um, he had a hood on and...and dark clothes", the boy begun, trying to remember. "I didn't see his face... But, he was tall."

"How tall?", Jim pressed, writing it all down.

"...A head taller than her. Or more, I don't know."

"You remember all this, but you didn't have enough time to help her!?", Max shouted as she tried to get to him, but got pulled back by Lucas.

"I couldn't!", the boy repeated, getting furious. "Fucking hell, just listen, alright? I TRIED!"

"What did you do?", Jim asked.

"I went to them, asked what he was doing", Troy turned his eyes on the man, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I asked El if she knew him, but she didn't answer. He told me to leave and I...I... It was like a had to, I backed up - not because I wanted to, but I just did", he rambled on, hands shaking. "He did something to me, I swear!"

"Like the things she could do?", Lucas asked, his voice thin.

"I don't know, maybe, yeah", Troy got out, turning to the other boy who looked away from him. "But he made me back off, I didn't want to--."

"I'm calling Joyce now", Jim interrupted his ramble, already picking up the phone.

"Call the Wheeler's, too, please", Max said in a small voice. "The boys are there."

Jim swallowed, hand frozen mid movement with the receiver in its hold, before nodding.

 

Mike rushed into the police station, Will, Dustin, and his mother with Holly not far behind.

"Michael!", Karen tried call her son.

The teen shook his head, going straight into Jim's office. Lucas and Max sat on the couch at the side of the room, both looking scared and out of place. Then he spotted Troy.

"What's he doing here?", Mike asked, his voice breaking while trying to fight back the tears that threatened to come.

"Is it true?", Will asked as he stopped beside him. "Someone took her?"

Jim swallowed. "Troy saw someone take her, before driving them away."

Karen gasped, covering her mouth as tears filled her eyes.

"Where is El?", Holly asked, looking around the teens in the room, tugging her mothers hand. "I want El", she sniffed.

"Mom", Mike got out, breathing hard. "Take Holly away, please...", he begged.

"NO!", Holly cried. "I want El!"

Joyce came into the room then, stopping to the doorway.

It was her, coming to the police station because of her missing child. 

Again.

"My baby", she breathed out, locking her eyes with Jim's. "Where is she?"

"Honey", Jim choked, coming around the table to embrace her.

" _Where is she!?_ ", she cried, trying to push him away, looking around the room filled with people.

But Joyce didn't see her.

 

The lights from the streets reached them every five seconds, El counted it.

Then she counted it again.

The stripe of light touched her sleeve, showing the color of her jacket, before it was gone. 

One, two, three, four, five. 

The orange light flashed into the car again.

El felt tired, her eyes droopy and her whole body begging her to rest. But she still tried to break free, even though it was of no use anymore. No matter how much she wanted to resist him, she didn't have the energy to do so.

He had his arm around her, keeping her glued to his side.

"Eleven", the low voice rasped out. "Look at me."

Her eyes turned to meet his, slowly, as she tried to battle against his will. It was all too familiar to her and she wanted to scream, throw away the intruder from inside her head. 

El gritted her teeth as she tried to open her mouth, the sound making her shiver, but it was no use. She couldn't push him out.

"Finally", the man said, staring at her with his dark eyes. "I waited, Eleven."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I'M SO SORRY. Please don't hate me, I've been building up to this from the beginning :(


	39. Some of them want to abuse you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. The reaction I got from the last chapter was basically what I anticipated it to be.

**Some of them want to abuse you**

 

Troy had to tell the whole story to everyone, again, despite knowing how bad it was. And after finishing his version Mike punched him, making his nose bleed.

Karen didn't have the heart to tell her son off, instead she tried to comfort Holly who wailed in her arms. Jim held Joyce tighter than before, as the woman let out a loud sob and dropped her face to his chest.

"Are you an idiot!?", Mike yelled at the boy who brought a hand to his nose, while shaking his own hand due to the pain. Dustin placed a hand onto his shoulder, but he shrugged it away angrily.

"He couldn't stop it, Mike--", Lucas begun.

"It doesn't change this! It doesn't change _anything_!", Mike shouted, kicking a trash can at Troy who got out of its way and wiped his nose to the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Michael", Karen warned him, closing her eyes and hugging Holly closer.

"He tried to _kiss_ her!", Mike spat, before turning to Lucas and Max. "And where were you!?"

"Where was I?", Lucas shook his head at his friend in disbelief, tears in his eyes. "I was gone for a few minutes and when I came back she was gone. How was I supposed to--."

"You could've stopped her! Not letting her leave on her own!", Mike yelled.

"I wasn't _there_!", his friend hissed back, before turning away.

"She has her own will!", Max shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "She can leave, if she wants!"

"Where were you, Max?", Will asked softly, turning to the girl. "She went with you...w-why was she alone?"

But Max didn't answer his question. She covered her face as she let out a cry, startling everyone in the room. She had never cried in front of them, not before. 

"She was upstairs", Lucas answered for her, patting the girl's back awkwardly, "with Jake."

Dustin had just begun moving towards Max, to comfort her the best he could. But after his friend's words he turned around, casting his eyes away.

Mike stared at the girl, face screwed because of the tears he was still trying to hold in. 

"But", Will got out in the between of sobs. "S-she went _with you._ "

"You left her alone, in a party with strange people, so you could go make out with someone?", Mike asked slowly, narrowing his eyes at the girl. "A real best friend, alright."

"Stop it!", Max cried, pushing her hair back and away from her face.

"You didn't stop to _think_ \--?"

"Shut up, all of you!", Jim growled, glancing down at the woman in his arms. "We need to find her", he continued softly. "Anything you know... Tell me. Anything that comes to your mind."

"I...", Will begun, gaining the attention of the whole room. "I can connect to her", he whispered.

Joyce broke free from Jim's hold and went to her son, taking his face in her trembling hands. "H-honey?", she got out, taking a sharp breath. 

"We can talk", the boy said, avoiding his mother's eyes, "through our minds... I can do that."

"Do it", Mike choked.

Will looked at his mother, before glancing at Jim. From the corner of his eye he saw Troy, who had backed himself up against a wall. But it didn't matter anymore if he knew, if everyone knew, no matter what he and El had agreed on. He was doing it for her.

So he closed his eyes, concentrating on El and the familiar feeling of her mind.

After a while he felt it, as he tried to reach towards it with his thoughts. It was something he still didn't quite understand, how her presence and being felt exactly like _her_. What she looked like, who she was as a person...all of it combined. 

He sometimes felt colors in her mind, even though he couldn't see them.

"I can feel her", Will whispered, wanting them to know that she, at least, was there. But he felt the distance too, as the connection between them felt tight and stretched. "B-but she's far."

Joyce whimpered as she kept stroking his cheek, while everyone else tensed and waited for more, silence falling over the room.

_El, answer me. Where are you? ...Where are you?_

It was like a recording, the words he kept repeating. But he got nothing back, no matter how hard he tried. He felt her, but he couldn't fully reach out to her. It was as if he was shouting at a wall on which other side he knew she was, or a phone call which kept on ringing. She couldn't answer.

"Will, you're bleeding", his mother whispered and he felt her wiping his nose.

He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, trying even harder. Tears burned in his eyes and his throat felt like it was closing up, but it didn't matter.

_El, we are coming for you... Please, just answer me once, please... Where are you?_

"Stop it, already", it was Lucas this time, tugging at his hand. "She's too far, you can't--. You'll pass out", the boy said in a hushed whisper.

"No", Will choked, yanking his arm away. "I-I can do this, let me do this..."

He kept trying, pushing everything he had to her, but she didn't answer. 

"Stop it", Lucas said, his tone now more begging than before. 

But Will kept his eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. 

Lucas took a hold of his friend's hand again, glad that he didn't get pushed away this time too. Gently he laced their fingers, while watching the closed eyes before him. Will's skin had dropped its color already, and he knew that grey would be the next in line. Then he saw the blood dripping down the boy's neck and he pushed the brown hair out of the way with his free, although shaking hand.

"Honey, your ears...", Joyce whispered, stroking her son's cheeks.

Will took a deep breath, closing his eyes even tighter. "I need to do this", he whispered back.

 

When their phone rang in the middle of the night, Jonathan hurried out of the bed to answer it as he didn't want Nancy to wake up.

He never went back to bed afterwards.

Instead he got his shoebox, which he kept on their hat rack, and sat at their small kitchen table. Jonathan opened the lid with shaking hands and after seeing the letters he covered his face, taking a ragged breath.

Ever since he and Nancy had left for New York, he and El had wrote to each other. Sometimes the letters had a separate paper from Will, but on other times it was just the two of them, talking about...well, everything.

She told him about the things she had learned, things she found interesting. He told her about his studies in return, told her stories about New York, and sent pictures he kept taking. 

He opened the latest one, which he had got just two days before, and swallowed before reading it again.

 

That was from where Nancy found him, after she had woken up in an empty bed a while later. He was surrounded by the once again open letters, tears falling steadily down his cheeks.

Flicking on the lights on her way after leaving their bedroom, she sat down beside him and reached out a hand to touch him. "Jonathan?"

He shook his head, closing his eyes as he dropped the paper he had been holding onto the table. 

"What's wrong?", Nancy whispered.

"It's El."

"What about her?", she rubbed his back, glancing at the letters.

"Jim called", Jonathan choked, opening his eyes to look at her.

They had never packed their things faster, than in that early morning. They were out of the door and on their way to Hawkins before the sunrise.

 

El wasn't sure how long they had been on the road.

She was still tightly tucked to the man's side and her head kept dropping, again and again, as her eyes kept drooping. She was too tired, having fought back for so long, and now... 

The only thing she cared about was going home.

She wanted to fall asleep in her own bed. To get tucked in by her parents and get kissed on her forehead, with Rocket falling asleep by her feet. Chewy too, if he wasn't with her brother.

Will, who would be there if she woke up because of a nightmare. He always was and he made her forget about the horrible scenes faster than she ever could on her own, his presence calming and comforting, reminding her about the reality if she confused it with her dreams.

The tightness in her head eased a little and she immediately closed her tired eyes. The first thing she thought about was Mike and how, more than anything else, she wished to be with him.

She wanted their blanket fort and Mike to hug her as she fell asleep, the boy telling her how it wasn't her fault and that everything would be better soon. 

It wouldn't even matter how messed up everything was. How she couldn't be fixed, how she couldn't forget some things, how the nightmares didn't stop... Mike would be with her and he would tell her that everything was fine.

And at least for a few minutes she would believe him, his words making the whole world pretty.

 

Jim dragged both Mike and Troy outside, after getting tired of their fighting. The shouting already had got on everyones nerves, no matter how harmless it was otherwise, but the two teens beating each other up had not been any better.

"You", he told Troy, voice rough and cold. "Go home, boy. Tell your father that I'll call him later."

The teen looked up at him, wiping the blood from under his nose, before glancing at Mike. 

Jim turned his eyes on the boy by his side, who watched the now retreating back of the another teenager with a furious look on his face. His split lip had begun to swell while the blood on his chin had dried, leaving a smudged stain behind.

"It's not worth it, kiddo."

"We need to find her", Mike said, his voice thin, and hissed when the cut on his lip protested against talking. 

The man clasped the tiny shoulder. "You need to calm down, if you want to come back inside", he murmured, watching the boy turn his gaze onto the ground. "We'll find her, but you need to calm down."

"But--."

"No", Jim told him strongly, taking a deep breath. "She trusts us to find her, which we will, but you need to trust her too."

Mike looked up, tears glistening in his eyes. Then he swallowed hard, before screwing his eyes shut and covering his face. When he broke into loud sobs, and strong arms immediately enveloped him into a tight hug, he felt hopeless.

When Karen ran outside with Holly in her arms, she locked her gaze with Jim's. He nodded to her, before gently guiding the crying boy to his mother's arms.

She hugged Mike as close as she could, with only one arm around him, as her son clenched onto her jacket. Holly kept sniffling against her skin, arms tightly around her neck, as she supported the toddler on her hip.

And Karen closed her eyes, wishing that both of her missing girls were there at that moment too.

 

Max sat in a chair by the desk, face dropped onto her hands. 

She had stopped crying a while ago, Dustin knew it, but the sight of her still broke him inside. He couldn't look at her from where he sat a few feet away, keeping his gaze on his shoes instead and wiping his cheeks every now and then.

Will sat on the couch with his mother's arms around him, while Lucas kept holding his other hand tightly in an attempt to calm him down. But every time his thoughts went to her, _to his sister_ , his face screwed in tears and he closed his eyes. He managed to take a ragged breath before the sobs returned.

And Lucas leaned his head onto the back of the couch, just behind Will's shoulder, sitting sideways next to his friend and clenching the smaller hand in his as he let his tears fall.

Jim slowly made his way back into the doorway and stopped there, looking around the room.

Something had broke within him. He felt the emptiness and the shattered pieces, cutting his insides with their sharp edges. 

He had thought it would be just another night at work, after which he would go home and fall asleep next to the love of his life, only to wake up in the morning for breakfast with his amazing children.

But clearly life had other things planned for that exact rainy night.

Life had decided to fuck everything up so thoroughly, that Jim couldn't help but wonder if he would ever see his daughter again.

 

As she felt something being fastened over her eyes, El woke up.

Her breathing labored the moment she realized that she couldn't see. She tried to open her mouth, to shout and beg for help, but she couldn't. Her lips were sealed shut, causing her panic to worsen.

"No speaking", a voice muttered to her, before she felt a hand on her cheek.

El trembled, trying to pry the hand off of her face before realizing her hands didn't work either. The panicked, fitful humming she let out irritated her throat, causing her to cough.

"Eleven", the same voice told her, before the hand from her cheek left. It came to clasp hers tightly, a second after. "Calm down."

It was then, when it all came crashing back to her. The party, running away, and then... 

Him.

"Turn left."

They were in a car, in which he had taken her into. And the only thing she knew was that they had drove away, far away from Hawkins and her home. 

"Stop the car."

El listened to the sound of the brakes as the car pulled over, breathing quickly through her nose. Her heart kept drumming in her chest, her whole body trembling due to fear and the mind bind, while the humming inside her head was getting worse.

"The gun... At your head."

_No._

"P-please." It was a different voice this time, scratchy and scared. "I-I beg you, please, d-don't do this..."

Shutting her eyes under the blindfold, El tried to scream. The only thing that came out was the humming sound again and she coughed with her lips pressed together, trying to get enough air through her nose.

"The trigger. Pull it."

The loud sound in the small space was nothing, compared to the warm splatter that hit her cheek.

"Let's walk", the voice told her, the whisper coming from close to her head.

El heard the door being opened and felt him leave her side, before he tugged onto her hand.

"Out."

And she could do nothing but follow him, hand shaking in the foreign and unpleasant hold.

 

After Jim and Joyce had made coffee in the morning, and Florence had got some breakfast for them all, they watched the teens from the doorway of his office while listening to the news. 

Will slept in Jim's chair, Max and Lucas curled on the chairs before the desk, while Mike and Dustin had taken the small couch. They all looked uncomfortable but they had refused to leave, having fell asleep only two hours ago.

Callahan had offered to go and check on their dogs. And they had forgot the whole thing while the man was gone, remembering it immediately after they saw him walk through the door almost an hour later. Jim offered him a grateful nod as the man returned the key, before he too went to get some coffee.

It had been a long night, to everyone.

"Chief, they found the car", Powell came to him, the man looking older and more tired than in ages.

"Where is it?", Jim asked hurriedly. Joyce came closer too, covering her mouth with a hand as she stared at the man.

"In Indianapolis."

Jim grabbed his and Joyce's coats, already knowing that she would come along no matter what.

"That's not all", Powell continued, looking uncomfortable. "The driver's dead."

"What?", Jim hissed, turning back around.

"Shot himself. And there's no trace of the two - but it's the right car, at least it matches the description."

"We need to go", Joyce said, trying to pull her jacket from Jim's grasp but he didn't let go.

"Where?", Callahan asked, as he hurried to them after overhearing their conversation. "I know you're worried about her, we all are, but chief... We need to solve this like any other case. Indianapolis is big, you won't find her by rushing in there", he reasoned.

Jim's eyes narrowed before he walked away, the three following him into another room. 

He wheeled out a board from the corner and begun to write down the characteristics that Troy had told them. Then he added the one fact, which he had been mulling over the whole night, separately from everything else. 

"Abilities?", Powell questioned.

"Remember when that boy Troy came in two years ago, saying that someone broke his arm with her mind?", Jim asked, eyeing the board. "That was my girl."

"Holy sh--", Callahan brought his hands to his hair, messing it even more.

"What did this...man...what did he do?", Powell asked slowly, coming to stand beside Jim.

"Made the boy back up", Jim murmured.

"This is unreal", Callahan whispered, his tired eyes wide as he stared at the board.

"Welcome to my world."

Then Jim added the fact about the car, and the driver who had shot himself. Powell took a piece of chalk too, linking the fact to the abilities with an arrow.

"It...", Joyce begun as she came to them, too. "What if he's from the lab?", she whispered. Her eyes were wide open, as she stared at the board before them.

She had given up the hope that it was all just a bad dream, when she had stayed up the whole night and nothing had changed. She hadn't waken up.

Jim threw the chalk from his hand to the floor, rushing out of the room. 

 

It was a dead end, calling the lab. 

Dr. Brenner spoke with Jim for a while, repeating over and over again how he had promised not to take her, reminding him of the deal they had made.

 _"I am the only one in the building, about to have the power cut out"_ , the man told him over the phone. _"As I told you before, we are leaving Hawkins - moving our activity to a different location."_

"Running away", Jim hissed. "Good."

 _"As for your daughter, mister Hopper, I have no clue of where she could be"_ , Dr. Brenner said, and the smile on his face could be heard through the phone. _"She is prone to run away, though, as you may know."_

"What about others, ones like her?"

 _"Others?"_ , the man questioned. _"If there were others, 'like her' as you say, they wouldn't be here. As I have told you a few times already, our faculty is chancing its location."_

"You don't know anything, do you?", Jim growled.He heard a sigh from the other end of the line. 

_"We made a deal, Mr Hopper, do I need to remind you of it? If you found her, like you did, we would not take her away. But at the same time she would cease being our worry and the connection between us would be forgotten. It seems to me, that at the moment we are the only ones respecting this agreement"_ , the man said, before the line got quiet for a few seconds. _"Good luck finding your daughter."_

 

"Fuck", Jim cursed as he returned to the room, which now had the teens in it, too. "You're not supposed to be here", he murmured, stopping next to Will to place a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"We want to help", Will whispered, glancing up at him. 

His eyes were red and tired, being the clear evidence and reminder of the night they had had. Joyce hugged the boy a little bit closer to her side, looking at him with a small but broken smile.

"I know, kiddo", Jim stroked his hair, before going to the board. "Brenner denied taking her", he murmured while writing it down.

"He, the man, he must know her", Mike said slowly, biting his thumb in thought. "He knew where she was."

"It wasn't random, I agree", Jim said with a nod.

"You think he stalked her or something?", Lucas got out.

Jim closed his eyes, glad that he wasn't facing the room.

"Remember what you told me, when Will went missing", Joyce whispered, causing Jim and everyone else to turn to look at her. "T-that ninety nine out of hundred times--."

"...the kid is with a parent or a relative", Jim breathed out, staring at her from across the room. How could he have forgotten?

"Where are her parents?", Powell asked.

"Her mother died last year", Jim murmured, eyeing the floor with a frown as he thought hard.

"We don't know who her father is", Joyce said, looking between the men in the room in defeat.

"Could someone know about him?", Callahan asked as he put his glasses on better.

"No", Jim sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to the board.

"Could it be Becky?", Joyce asked. She got up from her place beside Will, closing the distance between her and Jim before taking a hold of his arm gently. "Her aunt?", she whispered.

Jim frowned, eyeing the board again and again, taking in everything. "She never even mentioned about wanting to see her", he pointed out slowly. "Why would she take her?"

"What if she changed her mind?", Powell asked. "She is her family. What if it wasn't a man the boy saw?"

"It's not Becky", Will said in a small voice. The adults didn't hear him, only his friends who turned their eyes on him from all around the room.

"What if she's been on contact with her?", Callahan suggested.

"By phone?", Jim questioned, glancing at the man. "She has our number..."

"It's not Becky", Will repeated, raising his voice and finally gaining their attention.

"Honey", Joyce begged him softly. "We...we need to think about every possibility."

"She said goodbye to her", Will continued, sniffing as he looked at his mother, "on the letter." 

"What letter?", Jim asked, as Joyce stared at her son wide eyed.

"O-on her birthday", the boy got out.

Mike dropped his head down and closed his eyes.

"Why didn't she tell us?", Jim whispered, glancing at Joyce who looked just as surprised and clueless as he felt. 

"She didn't tell anyone", Will whispered. "I was there, when she read the letter... She told me. And Jonathan, too. Becky sold the house and wished for El to be _happy_ ", he breathed out, wiping his cheeks.

Joyce came back to his side, pulling him into a hug.

When he heard his mother cry, he couldn't stop the sobs anymore.

 

"I hate this", Jonathan said, as he and Nancy drove back to Hawkins. "What if...what if we're not fast enough?", he asked frantically. 

"No, no, Jonathan", Nancy tried, pushing back the tears. She had to stay strong, for him. 

For El. 

"Who does things like that?", Jonathan growled, hitting the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. 

"I-I don't know", she got out, glancing at the road before turning back to him. "But you need to stay calm."

He breathed out slowly, rearranging his hands back to the wheel. "I know, Nancy, I know..."

"I love her, too", Nancy whispered, resting her hand on top of his.

Jonathan nodded, trying to swallow the lump from his throat but it was stuck. "I just hope we're not late", he whispered.

 

Nancy rested while Jonathan drove, both of them agreeing on not stopping much on the way. 

They didn't have the time to waste. 

But she couldn't sleep. She stared out of the window, tears falling down her cheeks in a steady rhythm, not wanting to turn around and worry Jonathan even more than he already was.

Maybe she wouldn't cry that much when they were back home, if she did it now. It was a childish thought, a stubborn one, but she kept thinking about El and how much she missed the girl.

She was toughening herself up for the moment she would get back together with her family and would have to be the strong one among them. Closing her eyes, Nancy swallowed the cry that tried to escape her mouth.

 

When they stopped on to a market to gather food for the rest of the drive, they headed towards the first telephone and called to the police station.

"Jim?", Jonathan hurried, as soon as the call got connected. "It's me, Jonathan."

_"Jon, where are you?"_

"Driving through Pennsylvania. Six hours left."

_"You're coming here?"_

"Yeah, of course", he murmured. "Do you have any idea, of... Of where she could be?"

_"...The last clue was in Indianapolis."_

"You going there?"

_"We still need to know more."_

"We'll go there", Jonathan rushed. "Me and Nancy, we can drive straight there--."

 _"It's not wise"_ , Jim told him with a sigh. The line was silent for a few seconds. _"He is like her."_

Jonathan closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "I got it", he whispered, glancing at Nancy who stood as close to him as she could and was staring at him with her eyes wide.

_"Come here first - promise me, Jon."_

Jonathan bit his lip, before sighing. "I promise."

_"Call me when you're closer."_

"I will. Bye."

 

After Nancy called her mother, who was hysterical and made her cry, they hurried into the market.

"The man has powers", Jonathan told her in a whisper, as they grabbed whatever they found. "Like El."

"Is he from the lab?", Nancy whispered back, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. She furiously wiped away her tears, after an older lady looked between the two of them in worry.

"I don't know, might be. Possibly."

"I brought the gun", she said then, sniffing as she grabbed a few water bottles and balanced them onto her other hand. "It's in my bag."

"Good", Jonathan nodded. "The last clue was from Indianapolis."

"Are we going there?", she whispered, stopping him with a hand on his arm.

"No", he whispered back. He simply looked at her for a while and she saw the fear in his eyes. "We have to go home first. We...we don't know what he can do. I'm not risking you, too."

"She's tough", Nancy reminded him, stroking his arm.

"Yeah", Jonathan nodded again, turning his gaze away. "But she's still just a girl."

 

"This is home", the man told her, as he made El sit down on something soft. "You are...home."

And she wanted to scream. She wanted to hit, kick, and run away. 

She could still remember the sound of the gun. The dirty feeling of dried blood on her face hadn't left either, the spots burning her cheek as if they were slowly melting her skin underneath. 

It wasn't her blood. She didn't know whose it was. 

El still had the blindfold on, which he had put on her before leaving the car. It made her feel suffocated, even though it didn't block her mouth or nose. But the fact that she couldn't see, that she had no idea where they were or what he was doing... She was on edge, trying to sharpen her hearing and other senses in an attempt to understand her surroundings.

"I miss...", the man said slowly, before touching her throat and making her tense up, "your voice."

And her throat opened, like a plug had been taken out. The sudden change caused her to cough and she opened her mouth, gasping for air in the between. 

"You're from there", El croaked. She cleared her throat, tried to moisten it with saliva as she swallowed a few times. "I know you."

"Yes", he said, his low voice soft and gentle as he spoke to her - like she was a small child. "You know me, Eleven, you know me..."

"I'm not Eleven", she got out, listening to his breathing. "Not anymore."

"You are." 

And she felt him touch her wrist, before he forcefully pulled her bracelet down to reveal the tattoo. He then pressed his fingers against her skin, against the number there.

"Why did you take me?", El whispered. "W-why... Why did you come?"

And as suddenly as he had touched her, he removed his hand from her wrist.

"Eleven", he said, before his fingers brushed over her cheek, "you are my sister."


	40. I am the maker of rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A.N. I think I should say some things, before you dive back into the story.**
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter consists only of flashbacks.
> 
> Flashbacks, if used properly, give the reader vital information outside the story's main timeline. I have wrote a few before, about El's encounters with the other numbers during the time she spent in the upside down. They mattered - I was building up to this the whole time.
> 
> **I'm sorry if some of you feel betrayed or disappointed with the story now, I truly am.**
> 
> However, I'm not about to suddenly change the plot, because that's not how it works - not with this, nor proper books or tv-series either. 
> 
> But the end of this story IS NOT coming soon, as I have told you before. I have chapters ready and on their way, and basically the whole storyline figured out. (I have also promised you smut scenes, so keep that in mind if nothing else helps, hah.) 
> 
> Love you guys, thank you xx 
> 
> preciousbean

**I am the maker of rules**

 

**1973, Hawkins National Laboratory**

 

The door to the small room opened, revealing a man dressed in a white coat. He slowly walked in, glancing at the child sitting on a bed at the far end of the room. 

"Papa."

"Good morning", Dr. Brenner said as he sat down onto the chair at the desk, his pale blue eyes finding the dark ones staring back at him. "Are you a good boy today?"

The boy nodded, moving to rest his hands onto his lap and over his crossed legs.

"Say it aloud, Five."

"Yes, papa."

Dr. Brenner took a few of the drawings piled on the desk, looking at them with an unreadable expression. Meanwhile Five kept staring at the man, worried that he would take his pictures away. 

They were his. He had made them.

"Would you like to see your sister?", the man drawled after a long silence, the gentle rustle of the papers having been the only noise in the room until then.

"Sister?", Five asked slowly, the word unfamiliar.

"Yes, my boy", Dr. Brenner lifted his gaze from the papers and smiled. "Your sister."

Five stared at the man, answering to the gesture by doing the same movement with the sides of his mouth, while trying to understand the meaning of his words.

"If I take you to see the others, you must promise me to behave."

"Yes."

"If they do something you dislike, don't hurt them. The same way that I don't hurt you, if you do not obey the rules we have set for you."

"Can make them do what I want?", the boy asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly for a few seconds while looking at his hands before meeting the man's gaze again.

Brenner put the drawings back onto the table, before looking at the child curiously. "What would you like them to do?", he asked, leaning forward in his chair. "If they would do anything you wanted, what would it be?"

Five stared at the man for a long time, his dark brown eyes unreadable.

But Brenner knew that look, as he had seen it before. He had seen it several times during his life. It did not scare him, no matter how cold and calculating it was. 

"You can't hurt them, Five, not without a reason", he reminded the child gently. "Not without my permission to do so."

"If they hurt them?", the boy asked slowly, eyeing the man and waiting for his answer.

"You aren't allowed to make them hurt each other, either. No blood, no pain, no death. Not without my permission. Those are the rules."

Five nodded, narrowing his eyes a little.

"But first", Brenner smiled at him, "we are going to try something new today." 

 

Like she always did, Four had rubber gloves on as she and Five were taken through the long hallway to the yellow room.

Papa was already there, sitting on the couch. That was where Two usually read to Seven, sometimes to Nine too. 

They hadn't seen him in a long time. Two hadn't came back, and neither had One.

Eyeing the man in wonder, Five stopped in front of the couch.

"Miranda, would you mind bringing her in?", Dr. Brenner asked someone, a woman.

"Of course, sir."

"Three?", Five asked, looking around the room. He couldn't see her.

"Unfortunately, Three is at the pool today."

Five knew that Three hated water. She must've been bad, and all of them knew that being bad had consequences. So he simply nodded, turning his eyes back to the man before him. Brenner looked back at him with a gentle smile on his face.

"Sir", the woman from earlier said when she returned into the room.

"You can put her down, Miranda, thank you."

Five turned his head, then his whole body, gaze stopping onto a girl. 

She was small, even smaller than Nine. She had small hands, clutching at her shirt, and large brown eyes that stared back at him.

"Eleven", Brenner said, offering her an encouraging smile.

The girl took a few steps forward, glanced at the boy who stared down at her, before looking around the room and the other children there. 

She then turned back to the only familiar face in the room, reaching out to him. "Pa-pa."

 

"You are not allowed to use your powers on Eleven, either", Dr. Brenner stated, from where he sat on the couch, watching over the children in the room.

"She has hair?", the boy wondered, taking in the thin brown curls that framed the chubby face.

"For now", the man nodded.

Five stared at the girl, who played with colorful blocks on the carpeted area they sat on. 

"She is like me?"

Eleven kept piling the blocks in silence, glancing around whenever someone of the children made a noise or spoke something in the otherwise quiet room.

"Yes, my boy, like all of you."

The tower fell down with a clatter and Five reached for a few blocks before pushing them towards the girl. He furrowed his eyebrows at her, as she pulled the offered blocks closer to the rest. She didn't even look at him. "What can she do?" 

"That is still left to be found out. Something wonderful, I believe. She is your sister, after all."

 

It took countless of hours in the yellow room for Eleven to begun feeling comfortable. 

The other children in the room continuously took her attention, causing her to stop doing whatever she had just a second ago fully concentrated on - to simply look around for the source of the noise or voice she had just heard.

But she didn't cry. At least not in the yellow room.

Five hated it when Nine cried, it was the worst thing he knew. But Nine was bigger than Eleven, older than her. So why did he cry? 

Why did some of the others cry?

 

Miranda carried Eleven into the room once again, letting her walk from the doorway further on her own. The toddler turned around on her spot, looking up at the woman while fiddling with her small hands.

Five watched the woman retreat from the room and close the door, before she joined the other men behind the windows. 

This was one of Five's favorite experiments, of the ones he had been a part of. He just had to sit on the floor and watch how Eleven took in her surroundings, the girl fiddling with the different toys and things on her own.

It was the fourth time they were doing it, already, and he still found watching her entertaining.

The speaker rattled after a while, as someone opened the connecting radio between the two rooms.

_"Talk to her, Five."_

The boy turned to stare at Brenner through the glass. 

_"Call her to you, or ask her about the toys. We want her to feel as comfortable as she can."_

Eyebrows furrowing in wonder, Five turned his eyes back to the girl. She stood on her slightly wobbly legs, carefully rummaging through a box of different toys.

"Eleven", he said slowly, testing out the name for the first time aloud. 

The girl kept going through the toys on her own, once in a while carefully setting aside a soft animal. She had a neat row of them on the floor, by her feet. 

"Eleven", he said again, this time gaining her attention.

"Hm", the girl hummed, looking at him before breaking into a toothy smile. She then turned away, back to the box. 

The otherwise empty room filled with the clatter again, as she moved the toys around while looking for her favorites.

Five furrowed his eyebrows, feeling as if he had failed. Pouting, he turned his gaze onto the floor and begun picking at the carpet. 

"Hi."

The cheery voice startled him, soft and high, and he lifted his chin up just as the girl took something out of the box. She then rushed towards him, from the other end of the room.

Eleven offered the toy, eyes on the dinosaur and not him. "Hi."

"Hi", Five whispered back, eyes wide as he watched her. 

She then ran back to the other side of the room and he watched her go, heart beating in a startled rhythm. He held onto the dinosaur. Eleven returned a moment later, bringing him a tiny car and offering it to him.

The radio rattled once again, before the familiar voice spoke softly: _"Thank her."_

"Thank you", Five said slowly, letting the girl place the toy onto the palm of his hand.

 

There was something about Eleven that made Five itch. Concentrating was hard as his thoughts kept wandering onto the girl, knowing that she waited for him in the yellow room. 

"Papa", he said in the middle of a test, lifting his gaze to meet the man's.

"Only a few minutes left, Five."

"Eleven. I want to see."

"We talked about this before. You will see her after the test, if you do well."

"Now", the boy pressed.

"After the test, Five", the man reminded him. "Otherwise you are not allowed into the yellow room, not for the rest of the week."

Five narrowed his eyes, hands clenching onto tight fists on the table.

"You know the rules. Don't break them."

And despite the heat he felt growing inside him, he didn't. It was important for him to see her. So the boy settled back, doing as he was told.

Cat's mind wasn't as interesting as a human mind tend to be. It was too easy. 

 

Eleven loved doing puzzles. She was also good at them, Five could see it. 

Miranda kept bringing her new ones, usually staying behind just to see the toddler complete them before she had to leave and let the children do things on their own.

"Good job, Eleven", the woman gushed, softly clapping her hands so not to bother anyone.

Five turned his gaze from her back to the girl, who slowly clapped her tiny hands and soon broke into a toothy smile. 

Miranda stood up then, straightening her skirt. "You can read to her, if you want. She likes that."

Glancing at the woman, Five nodded. Then he turned to the girl, who was at the moment getting down from the chair she had sat - and almost fell.

"Oh my... Good catch, Five."

The boy lowered Eleven to the floor, eyebrows furrowed, and slowly removed his hands from under the girl's armpits. She then ran off and towards the bookcase at the other side of the room.

Miranda offered him a small smile, before she left the room.

 

If Three was bad, she hurt people. 

And it wasn't just her. Five knew that everyone could do bad things.

The others, the people in white coats, the men with weapons... And papa, too. They all were capable of doing the same things that Three had done.

No one had used the green room after what had happened. The door had been sealed shut and the scene, which had took place in there, mostly forgotten. At least no one spoke about it.

But Five couldn't forget it. 

They weren't allowed to see Three anymore, and the only thing on his mind was the fear of Eleven leaving him too.

Whenever he passed the green room he glanced at the windows, which were now darkened. The whole hallway smelled of smoke for weeks.

The playdough animals he had made for Eleven had burned together with the room.

 

"Five", Eleven said, immediately after he walked into the room, from her spot at the table. 

The boy sat next to her, staring at her and trying to understand the bubbly feeling under his skin. She reached for his face with her small hand, placing it above his other eye gently. 

"Blink."

He obeyed, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. 

Eleven then turned back to table. She dipped the brush in her other hand slowly into a glass, the red watercolor swirling around the water. She watched it with fascination, before fully rinsing the color off and turning her brown eyes onto the pallet.

Five watched her pat the new color around the paper, in a careful and coordinated manner, the yellow bright and cheerful compared to the red spots already splattered there.

 

Five knew that he had to take care of her. It was important. 

Miranda had told him that he and Eleven were family, something that the others were not.

After asking about it, about what it meant, the woman had answered with something that he could never forget:

_"No matter what anyone tells you, you'll always have her. Family is something you can't break - well, you can, but not fully. You have the same father, Five. You both share his blood, and that's what makes you two a family. You'll always have each other."_

The woman had offered him a gentle smile after her words, which he had slowly mirrored in return, before she had left his room with the empty dinner tray.

 

Eleven was fascinating and Five spend a lot of time simply watching her, trying to understand her.

And she touched him with those small, cold hands. No one else ever touched him. They were afraid of him, as they knew what he could do.

But not her. Not Eleven.

Being with her, watching her draw or listening to a story together - he needed it. He spend his days simply waiting for the next chance to see her again. 

He read to her sometimes too, even though he was bad at it. Even when the words stuck to his throat as the letters bounced around the pages, she waited for him patiently and eyed the pictures instead.

 

"Duck."

Five furrowed his eyebrows, trying to continue reading. "T-t-the..."

"Duck", the girl repeated, patting his hand.

He turned to her, gaze briefly stopping onto her newly shaved head before looking at her face.

Eleven stared at the book, pointing at the picture. "Is a duck."

Slowly, Five turned his eyes back onto the book and blinked a few times. "Yes."

She moved her finger, glancing up at him afterwards. "Cat."

He nodded, before pointing at another animal for her.

"Dog", she told him, eyeing the picture.

Five didn't even bother trying to continue reading to her anymore. Looking at the pictures and talking was something she seemed to enjoy just as much or even more. 

Finding the books with the most pictures didn't take too long. 

 

"Five", Brenner said as he came into the room.

"Papa", the boy greeted him back. "Eleven?"

"You are not allowed to see Eleven, anymore", the man told him, closing the door behind his back. 

"Why?", Five asked after a long silence.

"We have a new way of...handling situations, after what happened last week."

"Eight didn't mean to do it", the boy tried to tell the man, the words slowly coming out of his mouth as he thought hard on them.

He had to see Eleven. She was his, it was that simple. She was his family.

"Eight is not here to tell me that", Brenner told him, watching him from where he stood at the door.

Five narrowed his eyes.

"Do not use your abilities on me, Five. You know what I will do, if you disobey."

Five hated the glass room, but at the moment he hated papa even more. He crossed the room to the man, stopping in front of him. "Open the door."

He watched the slightly shaky hand grip onto the handle, before the man showed his pass to the reader. The green light and the peeping sound made Five's heart beat a little faster. 

It was new, and it was exciting.

"Five", Brenner spoke up. "Don't do anything you will regret later."

The boy's face scrunched up in an angry sneer, before he walked out of the room. "Take me to Eleven."

Brenner begun walking down the hall, towards the first door, the boy by his side. Five had blood trickling down from his nose already and he wiped it to his shirt.

"It's not going to be this easy, son", the man said gently, keeping the door open behind himself.

"It is", Five said coldly, as they turned around the corner. His bare feet didn't make a sound, but the man's footsteps sounded loud in the hollow hallway as they echoed from the walls.

There were men with weapons, waiting for them at the door to the elevator.

"Sir", one of them spoke up. "The boy isn't supposed to be out of his room."

"I know."

"Open the doors", Five spoke up, narrowing his eyes at one of the men. His head drummed, but he knew he still had time. He had to have more time.

"What are you doing?", one of the soldiers asked, as another pushed the button after twisting a key in the lock.

"I-I don't know."

"It's the boy", Brenner stated calmly. "That's what he does."

One of the men pointed his rifle at the child, the others soon following his lead.

Five stared at the weapons, before glancing at one of the men.

"Where are you taking him?", the man got out, tearing his gaze away from the boy's intimidating one.

"Now, now", Brenner said. "Put the guns down, gentlemen, there is no reason to panic."

"He's a threat, sir. That's why we're here, to guard the rest of the building."

"Let us through, it will be alright", Brenner told the men slowly, his voice low and calm. "Do not shoot, no matter what."

One of the soldiers shook his head slowly. "We can't, sir. Those are our orders."

"The guns", Five spoke up, watching with fascination how the men tensed up before him. Then he pointed his own head with a finger. "To you."

Slowly the men turned the guns to face themselves, away from the boy.

"Sir, please, stop this...", one of them got out, glancing at Brenner. 

Five closed his eyes for a few seconds, holding onto the connections he had made. It was almost as easy as it had been when they had practiced.

But his head... It was too much. The humming and the pounding pain. 

"Five", Brenner warned him. "You know what happens afterwards, if you don't obey."

Five was tired of papa. Tired of the orders, threats, and restraints. 

"Five--."

The boy opened his eyes, focusing on the men before them.

"Shoot."

The loud sounds echoed along the hallways and were followed by pitch black darkness, that wrapped around the boy like a warm blanket.

 

Five opened his eyes a few times, before he fully took in his surroundings.

The glass room.

He tried to rush towards the glass, but his knees buckled and he fell back onto the cold floor. His legs kept trembling as he tried to get up again, so he crawled to the glass and towards the people on the other side of it.

"PAPA!", he screamed, pressing the palms of his hands onto the glass.

None of them heard him, if they didn't want to. They didn't even turn to look at him.

_"PAPA!"_

He banged the glass with his hands, the sound bouncing around the room. He could scream and shout all he wanted, but they would still ignore him.

He couldn't even make them open the door.

"Eleven", he whispered, dropping his head onto the floor.

 

"We should let him meet her."

"Miranda", Brenner glanced at the woman as he passed her, his voice gentle, "you know what my answer is."

The woman turned around where she stood in the middle of his office, her delicate eyebrows furrowing in despair. "She's alone, all day long--."

"You are with her."

"I know, but... They should be allowed to spend time together. It's good for them both, you've seen that", she tried. "You have seen him afterwards. You can't deny the change she has on him."

Shaking his head, the man sighed. "He doesn't need more...stimulation. Spending time with her makes him volatile. He's too keen on her, that it's problematic."

"Please, Dr Brenner..."

"We have spoke about this before, haven't we? Do not get too attached to them, Miranda. They are children now, yes, but what we have here... It's more valuable than anything else in our lives."

Miranda swallowed, averting her gaze down. "Yes, sir. Of course."

"I actually have a new project for you", the man said, fetching a file from the top of his desk before offering it to the woman.

She opened the file, skimming through the information on the first page. "Sir?", she questioned, eyes widening the further she read.

Brenner placed a hand onto her shoulder from behind. "It is more...suitable for you, than being a nanny, don't you think? After all, it was not the reason you wanted to work here."

"That was before", Miranda whispered slowly, turning around to face the man. "Sir, I'm sorry. I-I won't meddle anymore, please just... Don't send me away from her", she pleaded in a whisper.

"Eleven is in fine hands, there's no need to worry about her."

"But I--."

"You will leave by the end of the month. The apartment is already ready and waiting for you."

 

Five's feet hurt. A few of his toes had changed color, having turned into a dirty shade of purple. 

The glass was too strong.

He was stuck, caged, and alone. And so was she, on the other side of the building.

Banging the glass once again, this time with his hand, Five slid down to the floor. He wanted the pain in his chest to go away.

 

**1984**

 

"Today, Five...", Brenner spoke to him after turning on the radio connecting the two rooms, separated by the glass wall. "Today, I need you to get Eleven back home", he said with a smile.

Five did the same thing he always did, when the man smiled. He lifted up the corners of his mouth, answering to the smile with a gesture he thought that copied his. But his heart beat quickened in excitement after having heard her name.

"Eleven is in the nether", the man continued, looking at him as he took a few steps closer to the glass. "I have tried everything... It's your turn now. Make me proud."

"Let me out", Five told him slowly, coming to lean against the glass. 

He didn't like the tank, he wanted to go to her himself. He needed to.

"I can't allow that. You can do it the same way, in which you have practiced", Brenner said before he pressed a picture against the glass, right before the boy's face.

Five moved so that he could see the face on it better. He then breathed out, brushing his fingers against the glass and over the picture. "Eleven."

She had grown. She wasn't small, like on the last time he had seen her. 

But no matter how many years had passed, he could recognize her eyes. He could recognize them anywhere. 

"Get her home", Brenner told him.

 

He had heard of the monster, a few times. But it was the first time he saw it.

So, ignoring the whimpers Eleven let out, he got closer to it and reached out with the girl's hand.

Five felt her powers, tingling under her skin. 

It was intoxicating, feeling them. His own powers felt like the air he breathed. 

Like nothing.

When it got close, he pushed it back with her powers. It was different. He felt different. 

The surge of powers rushing through her - he felt it in his mind. He felt her powers as he was there, _as he was her_ , tingling and burning to be used.

He didn't want the monster to hurt her, but he needed to see it and to know what it was.

Maybe they would let him there, to get Eleven home. He could then take care of it at the same time. And if its mind was close to a human's, he would get the best kind of revenge.

He would get to watch the monster rip itself apart right before his eyes.

 

Dr.Brenner pressed a button at the table as he walked past it, opening the radio connection. "Do you know how much time we have wasted on this?", were the first words that echoed in the rooms.

"I can go", Five pressed. "Get her home."

Brenner stood with his back towards him, the thick glass walls separating the two. "You are being transferred, along with the others. Today."

"No."

The man turned around, revealing his deformed face. "We are not negotiating. It's an order."

"I can--."

"You had many chances, you know that."

Five clenched his fists, banging them against the glass in frustration.

Taking a few steps closer, Brenner stopped in front of him. He stared at the young man on the other side of the glass, before letting out a chuckle. "I thought you were the strongest, Five, I really did", he drawled out, eyes locked with the dark brown ones. "You are different than the others, have always been. But your sister... She is something else."

"I am strong." 

"She threw you out", the man whispered, breaking into a smile. 

"I did it", Five tapped at his head a few times, "in here. Not in tank, not where she is. In my head." 

"I know. And what I will do now is not a punishment", Brenner said, before walking back to the table. 

Walking by the glass wall, alongside the man, Five's eyebrows furrowed. "What will you do?"

"This is a safety protocol", the man told him calmly, hand hovering over a button on the control board. "We are not able to move you otherwise."

Then he pressed the button and the glass room immediately filled with a hissing sound.

"What is it?", Five asked slowly, pressing his hands against the glass as he stared at the man.

"It's only gas", Brenner told him, turning his calculative gaze back onto the young man. "It doesn't hurt, you'll be asleep in no time. Lay down onto your bed."

But the only answer the man got was a shook of a head.

"You'll hurt yourself, Five. Lay down."

As breathing became harder Five slowly sat down to the floor, trying to steady him with his hands. 

His vision blurred. He couldn't feel his hands. 

He wasn't sure if he felt anything, anymore. 

Five didn't feel it either, when he slumped back and hit his head onto the stone floor.


	41. Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Sorry this took so long - a part of this chapter had disappeared so I had to write it again from memory, ugh... But here it is, finally.
> 
> THANK YOU all for your kind comments! xx

**Easy come, easy go, will you let me go?**

 

On early Saturday afternoon, the whole tiny town of Hawkins knew that El Hopper had been taken away by a stranger on the previous night and that they had disappeared without a clear trace.

There had been people to help spread some flyers, to call around the neighboring towns and cities - for hospitals, mostly. Her picture had been faxed, just like Will and Barb's had two years before, to all the police stations around the state of Indiana. 

Powell and Callahan had been excused, as Jim didn't want the whole station to be on one case. Besides, it was too personal to him and having his coworkers there wasn't helping at all. They both sent glances at his way, when they thought he wouldn't notice, unconsciously waiting for him to break.

The group of family and friends stayed in the negotiation room, ever since the early morning, trying to come up at least with something that could help them get El home.

 

"If we go to Indianapolis", Will said softly, fiddling with his hands on his lap, "I can find her, I know I can." 

"It's dangerous", Jim reasoned with a sigh, even though his heart told him to simply run after his missing girl. "We need to find more about the man."

"But--."

"I'm sorry, honey", Joyce whispered to Will, hugging him to her side.

"What about the demogorgon?", the boy asked, eyebrows furrowed. "You fought it, you got me out of there--."

"This is a human being we're talking about", Jim turned to look at him, before glancing at all the teens in the room. "He's not a monster, he's an actual human being with brains and a mind of his own. It's far more dangerous."

Silence settled over the room, Jim's words of warning turning into a mush in everyones heads.

"We need to go there", Mike said from his place between Lucas and Dustin, eyes on the floor. 

Max sat on the other side of the room alone, a hood over her head and face hidden behind her knees as she hugged her legs.

"Yeah, we need to save her", Dustin agreed, while Lucas patted Mike's back in an attempt to comfort his friend.

"I still think he's a monster", Will whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Joyce closed her eyes tight, after placing her forehead against her son's hair.

 

"Drink this", Five said, and El felt a bottle being pushed into her hand. "It's open."

And she drank the whole thing blindly, enjoying the taste of cool water as it moistened her dry mouth and throat, while her hand shook as an effect of the order.

"You are weak", he told her, sitting down next to her. "I want to take care of you."

She dropped the empty bottle from her hands, causing it to fall to the floor with a light thud. "Your name?", she whispered. "What is it?" 

"Five", he said, as he came closer to her. "You don't remember?"

El then felt his hands, clasping hers tightly. "No", she got out, taking a deep breath.

"I am Five", he repeated. "Papa said you are my sister."

It felt wrong, all of it. Like a long, terrible nightmare that wouldn't stop no matter how much she screamed and tried to open her eyes. 

"I want to go home, to my family", El whispered. "I want home."

She begun to feel dizzy and her eyes closed behind the blindfold, as she tried to collect her thoughts. Maybe it was a dream after all, a nightmare, as nothing seemed clear anymore. 

Her mind was a tangled mess, while her body felt like it begun to disappear. El didn't even feel it as she slumped down onto the couch, nor the hand that came to stroke her hair.

"This is home", she heard Five whisper. "We are home."

 

Mike sat on top of a table before the board, staring at the information gathered there. He had bit the skin around his thumb nail open, and it hurt. But the constant pain there and on his split lip kept his mind clear.

_Abilities. Lab. Man._

Those three words made him feel like he was missing something big. His tired brain worked on the puzzle before him, while his eyes kept running over the now too familiar words over and over again.

Before he even realized it himself, he had got up and stood before the board.

"Don't ruin it, kid", Jim told him.

Mike simply nodded, biting back the snarky remark. Ruining the chance of finding her was the last thing he would do. He stared at the carelessly scribbled words for a long time, his mind working so fast that he couldn't even keep up with it himself.

"What if Brenner lied", he rasped out, startling even himself.

Joyce turned away, biting her nails.

"He might have done that", Jim agreed slowly, coming to stand by him. "He's not the most trustworthy man there is."

The boy furrowed his eyebrows, keeping his gaze on the board. "He's from the lab. The man who took her."

"You know something, don't you?"

"She could talk through mind", Mike stated, now talking loud enough for everyone to hear.

The man nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"She could show us things, too. Memories."

"We know", Joyce reminded him softly, thinking back to the time in the hospital after El had came back.

"While she was in the upside down, people from the lab tried to get her back", Will said, lifting his gaze up from his shoes.

"They-- no, _he_ said, that there were no gate", Joyce hissed as she turned around, startling everyone in the room. " _Brenner_ said, that there was _no way_ , no way out...", she continued, waving her hands around a little as she trailed off, tears filling her eyes.

"He lied", Mike repeated the words grimly. 

"Brenner sent people to her, before he closed the gate himself", Will said slowly, worried eyes on his mother. 

"But not just the army", Jim breathed out in realization, gaining nods from the boys. He had thought over the possibility of there being other experiments, others like her, but there hadn't been any proof or verification on them. "Who?"

Will went towards another board at the side of the room and Lucas helped him without a word, the two of them pushing it next to the first one. 

"Three, Four, and Nine", Dustin said, coming to his friends too. He could never forget the numbers she had spoke out, as he had kept trying to connect her stories to the right names.

Joyce wrapped an arm around Max's shoulders, as the two went closer to see, too. The girl bit her lip, eyebrows furrowed, clearly not knowing everything the boys did.

Will slowly took a piece of chalk to his hand and then wrote the numbers on the board, leaving space underneath them. 

"Three could make fire", Mike said in a thin voice, staring at the number, "from her hands." 

Everyone glanced at the boy, before Will wrote the fact down without questioning him.

"We don't know what Four could do", the boy said then slowly, staring at the number while fiddling with the chalk piece in his hand. "She only mentioned the number."

"Nine...", Dustin swallowed. 

They knew what he had done.

"Hallucinations", Will muttered grimly, writing the fact down. "But he's dead", he added, writing 'dead' under his number in capital letters.

"It could've been him", Lucas got out, staring at the words as a sick feeling spread into his stomach.

"Yeah", Dustin agreed, frowning at the board.

"Then...", Mike said slowly, swallowing hard. He felt numb. "The last one."

"We don't know his number", Dustin pointed out weakly, while knowing that it didn't really matter.

Will wrote a question mark, before hesitating. He turned to look at his friends, eyes suddenly burning with tears again.

Lucas shook his head, turning away from them and the board, while Dustin closed his eyes and covered them with his hands.

"It's him", Mike said, clenching his fists in anger. "It's him, alright."

"I know", Will whispered, his hand shaking as he wrote down the two words.

Joyce let out a sob, while Max stared at the board with wide eyes.

"Mind control", Jim read aloud, silencing the room.

 

Five removed the blindfold from around her head, immediately forcing her to look at him.

And El felt dizzy, not strong enough to fight against the orders - so she stopped.

She stopped fighting.

He stared at her, one of his hands holding hers while the other came to gently push her hair back from her face. His eyes... They felt like they saw into her soul, and she felt exposed and violated before him. 

"Eleven", he said once again, the tone of his words pressuring. 

El felt sick as she watched him, wanting to shrug away his hands. "Not anymore."

"You can't choose", he sat a little closer to her, "who you are."

Those were papa's words. Something he had kept repeating to her, over and over again, when she had been ready to give up.

But it wasn't true.

"I can", she said strongly. "I am not Eleven, not anymore."

"You... You are different", Five said slowly, gaze running over her face as if he was searching for the change from there.

If it was all true: if he knew her and had seen her before, it had to have happened a long time ago.  
She didn't remember him. El didn't remember anyone but papa from the laboratory and she truly wished that she couldn't remember him, either.

"You don't smile", he whispered then, his dark eyes finding hers again. "Why don't you smile?"

El simply stared at him in return, wondering if he even knew what a smile was. 

"Speak", he said, in a pleading way that made her head hurt, "speak to me."

"I don't have a reason to smile."

"Reason?"

"I'm not happy", El told him, trying to push back the tears that threatened to raise to her eyes. She wouldn't cry in front of him. "I'm not happy, so I don't smile."

"But...", he begun, eyebrows furrowing as he thought over her words. "You can smile. I can smile, too."

"It won't be real", she whispered. "I'm not happy."

Five turned his gaze down to the hand he held onto. "What is it? Happy?", he asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. 

"You feel it...inside you", El told him, wishing that she could look away from him, too. "You feel good."

Five kept his gaze down on their hands, his expression staying the same. 

"Y-you--", she begun, voice trembling as her eyes begun to burn again, "you don't feel it?"

"No", he admitted slowly. "I don't feel it."

 

"Come on", Jonathan hurried as he and Nancy ran into the police station, frantically looking around the small building. Jim's office was empty when they reached it.

"There", Nancy tugged at his sleeve, before rushing into a separate room where everyone were.

"Honey", Joyce gasped the second she saw them, immediately running to Jonathan and pulling him into an embrace. "Oh god, _Jonathan_..."

"I'm here, mom", he whispered. "W-we're going to get her back, I promise."

Nancy hesitated at the doorway, before she walked to Mike. Her brother stood in front of two boards, which were messily filled with information. He didn't turn to her, not even when she came to stand beside him.

"Mike", she whispered, eyeing his face with worry. He kept staring ahead and her heart ached for him. "We'll bring her home", Nancy told him softly, and soon watched his eyes fill with tears.

"Yeah?", Mike let out a choked sob, casting his eyes down.

She wrapped her arms around him and he immediately hugged her back, his whole body shaking with tears. "I swear, Mike. You'll see her soon..."

 

"Your hair", Five said, bringing his hand to touch it and making her wince. "Like mine", he motioned to his own, shoulder length hair.

He didn't look like her, except maybe for their hair color and eyes. Only his were darker. 

She didn't want to believe him. He could be mistaken, confused her for someone who looked alike. But he was from the lab, she knew it, and the possibility of them actually being related grew every passing minute she had to spend looking at him. 

He was the one who had tried the hardest to get her to return, the one who had violated her mind and taken control of her. He was the one who had come back for her, over and over again, and she hated him the most for doing so. 

El then heard the nearing footsteps, but she couldn't move at all. Instead she stared at Five's face, who turned towards the doorway when someone entered the room. 

He nodded his head in acknowledgement at the person. "Three."

"Five", the familiar voice said.

El closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, as shock begun crawling into her body. The burns on her arms had taken a long time to heal, and they had hurt. 

They had hurt _so bad._

Now the skin looked almost as good as new, but even though they had healed Mike had still noticed the scars. She had told him where they had came from, which had made him angry and hurt.

El had spend a while convincing him that she was alright, before the roles had switched. 

Mike had then spend the rest of the evening convincing her, the both of them, how nothing like that would ever happen again. They had laid in their blanket fort until she had had to go home, his arms tightly wrapped around her as she had kept wiping the tears off of his face. 

Her eyes burned, as she thought about him. 

But they burned even more, when she was forced to open them again.

She usually loved to prove Mike wrong - like when she knew the answer to a question before him, or if he said something she knew wasn't true. But not this time. 

This time El would have loved to be the one, who was wrong.

 

"What if she had been followed, for a while now?", Jim suggested with furrowed eyebrows, lowering his coffee mug onto the nearby table. He tried to think like it wasn't his girl they were talking about, but it was hard.

"She would've noticed", Will said softly.

"Let's just assume, for a second, that she was", Jim glanced at Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy and the teens. "Did she say anything, to anyone of you?"

"Nothing", Max got out, not meeting his eyes.

"You sure?", Jim turned to the boys, wishing that they would have at least something, but they all shook their heads in defeat.

Jonathan thought back to the last few letters, but they had been normal. About school, her nightmares, his school project, approaching Christmas... How he and Nancy would come home soon. How he had promised to take her and Will iceskating. 

Lowering his gaze onto the floor, he shook his head in a small motion.

"The diary", Nancy whispered from his side, eyes widening. "S-she wrote a diary."

Jim turned to her, nodding. "We need to check it."

"Is it okay?", Will asked, looking at the adults with furrowed eyebrows. "To read her diary?"

"That might be the only clue we've got, honey", Joyce told him softly.

 

Five made her eat the food Three had brought for them.

El felt like throwing up. It wasn't because of the food, even though it wasn't warm anymore and it didn't taste that good. Her head throbbed constantly now, while her whole body ached due to the ongoing commands.

"How do you do it?", she asked slowly, trying to keep the nausea away by steadying her breathing as well as she could. "How can you control me this long?"

"You are weak", Five told her. "You don't stop me."

"I can't", El corrected him.

"I want you to...to stay", he said, putting down his food before he turned back to her. "Stay with me."

"What do you want from me?"

The words spilled out of her mouth before she had even thought them over, the hatred and distrust oozing out of them. But his expression stayed the same.

"We are family", Five reminded her.

"No. We're not."

"We are", he pressed. "You are my family."

She stared at him, trying to come up with a reason to everything. The reason to how she had ended up in her current situation, into a basement somewhere far away from home. 

And with him.

 

Will ran up the stairs to El's room, Mike right after him. When they reached the end of the hallway they both stopped to stare at the slightly open door. Neither wanted to open it.

Rocket startled them by running past their legs and pushing the door open with his head. The dog jumped on her bed and laid down, staring at the boys from his spot.

"Where is it?", Mike asked, his voice tense and thin, as they walked into the familiar room.

"I don't know", Will whispered back.

Their hearts felt heavy, as they saw every little thing she had gathered into her room, making it hers, _like her_. The photographs around her mirror, the pink cap on a pile of books, the guitar by her armchair and on its holder...

They both glanced behind as Dustin, Lucas, and Max joined them. The three of them looked exactly like how they felt.

It was like her room could break right before their eyes. Like it could suddenly stop existing, any second now, if they weren't careful.

"They'll wait downstairs", Lucas whispered, but his voice sounded strong and loud in the otherwise silent room.

"We'll need to find the diary", Mike breathed out, averting his gaze.

Max walked to El's bed, scratching Rocket before pulling a notebook from under her pillow. 

"Here", the girl whispered, turning to the boys. "She wrote to it one time, in the middle of the night. I saw it", she explained, stroking the cover with a thumb, before offering the diary to Mike.

He stared at it, shaking his head furiously. "I-I can't."

"Someone has to", Dustin said. "She trusts you the most."

"She trusts Will, too", Mike whispered. He didn't want to see her handwriting. He couldn't.

"Go on", Lucas told Will, taking the diary from Max and offering it to him. "We need to do this. You can apologize to her later", he added in a gentle whisper.

And Will slowly took the diary with both of his hands. He stared at the cover, fearing for what was to come after he opened it and violated her privacy.

 

El opened her eyes as she jolted awake, breathing hard. She then looked around, turning on the couch so that she could get her feet on the floor.

It hadn't been a dream.

The room was cold, grey, and dark. The only light came from a single lamp, from the furthest wall from her.

"You are awake." 

El searched for him from the shadows, before spotting him by the wall. And immediately she was filled with the now too familiar feeling of Five wrapping his mind around hers, making her surrender to his will. 

"What do you want from me?", she whispered. She had repeated the question so many times already, in all the different forms she could think of, that she had lost count.

"You can help me", Five said, straightening his legs where he sat leaning against the wall.

"How?", she breathed out, desperate to find a way out. "How can I help you?"

"Find our father, with me." 

"Then?", El asked wearily.

"We can be a family."

She tried to shake her head but couldn't, the tension on her muscles building as she tried to move on her own. "No."

"Yes", he insisted, standing up before crossing the room. "I need to take care of you", he said slowly, crouching onto the floor before her.

"You're not doing that now."

Five's eyebrows furrowed, as he looked over her.

"I'm cold, hungry, tired, and I want home", she whispered, waiting for his reaction. But she didn't see anything on his face, nothing at all. "I feel dirty", she added weakly, once she remembered the bloodstains on her face.

"You slept", he pointed out, peering into her eyes with his dark ones.

El stared at him, seeing her past self. The darkness inside him and the ignorance of the world, of other people around him... it horrified her.

"I'm tired because of you", she told him, hissing the words out. "What you do...it makes me tired. It hurts."

Five narrowed his eyes as his eyebrows furrowed. He stared at her for a while until he looked down, breaking their eye contact.

"If you stay", he begun slowly, "I stop."

 

Will sat on El's bed, her diary in his hands and his friend's arm around him.

"We need to do this", Lucas whispered close to his ear, absently stroking at his side.

Taking a deep breath, Will opened the diary and turned to the first page. Then his eyebrows furrowed. "This... This isn't the first one."

"What?", Dustin asked, sitting in the armchair by the window.

"The first date", Will explained, skimming further to see the rest of the markings. "It's... It's in the middle of June."

"But Nancy...", Mike said slowly, staring at the floorboards under his feet. "She gave it in January."

"That isn't the first one", Lucas repeated Will's words, glancing at the rest of his friends. "Where's the first, then?"

"Do we need that?", Will spoke up softly, staring at the first page and the words on it without really seeing them. There were so many things he knew she hadn't told them, and there must have been a reason for her to keep them hidden. 

"We need everything", Mike said. "Anything that could help us find her." 

Max went to El's desk and begun going through her drawers, startling the boys with her bold move. And Mike was about to go closer, but the girl saw him from the corner of her eye before he could reach the desk.

"Don't", Max told him, and he immediately stopped to his place. "There could be something personal."

"But you can see that?", Mike asked coldly. "Because you're such a good friend?"

The girl pushed the top drawer shut. "I meant things like tampons and shit, but what do you know?"

"I-I can't deal with this", Will mumbled, loud enough for Lucas to hear, before he rushed out of the room with the diary.

Turning to look at his friends, Lucas got up from the bed. "Can't you stop that, even for one fucking minute?", he hissed, getting their attention. "We need to find her--."

Mike lifted a hand to point at him. "You--!"

"I left her alone!", Lucas shouted at him. "Is that what you want me to say? Max left us, then I went to look for her. El was drunk, Mike, and I needed Max's help with her. Okay!?"

"...She was what?", Mike asked slowly, eyes widening.

"Drunk", Lucas repeated. "As in 'had drank alcohol'. I went to the bathroom, while El stayed with my teammates. One of them challenged El to beer bong. She won, by the way, and I drank a cup for her because that's what friends do--."

"You let her drink?", Mike winced. It didn't sound right, anything he heard. 

The El he knew wasn't like that.

"Her dad is the chief, are you serious?", Dustin got out, his eyes wide.

"So what if she drank?", Max asked with a huff, leaning onto the desk. "That's not important..."

"I told her that she didn't have to", Lucas sighed, frustrated at his friends. "But I took her outside, to the porch at the back of the house. We sat there for a while and when she begun asking for Max, I...", he turned away. "I had to go look for her. I'm sorry."

Dustin and Mike both stared at him. Max kept her gaze at the contents of an open drawer, but her hands stayed on top of the desk.

"Can you just... look for the diary?", Lucas asked softly, keeping his gaze on the floor. "I'll go to Will. Just look for it, okay?"

"Yeah", Dustin nodded, getting up from the armchair. "Make sure Will's fine."

Their friend was almost out of the door when Mike stopped him by grabbing his arm. 

"I'm sorry", the boy hurried to say, voice raspy. "I-I really am."

Lucas stood there for a few seconds, before nodding. "Me too", he murmured, giving the hand on his arms a gentle pat before walking out of the room.

 

Jim returned into the living room, rubbing at his face. "I called Ralph. He wants to come over with Troy, to see if they could help out some more."

Glancing at him, Joyce nodded. "He's a good kid", she got out.

"Yeah", Jim murmured. "I told his father how much of a help the boy has already been. Without him...", he trailed off with a deep sigh, not sure what he had been about to say.

Without Troy, they probably would have found out too late. Without him, there would have been even a higher possibility of their newfound daughter never coming home again. Without him...they could have lost El for forever. The list was endless and the range of different possible outcomes so wide that it hurt to even think about them.

"We--. We should make something to eat, right?", Joyce said weakly, getting up from where Jonathan had sat her down on the couch. "The kids... They need to eat..."

"I can do it", Nancy offered fast, already standing up, while Jonathan gently pulled his mother back down.

"Mom, just rest a while", he pleaded. "You haven't slept, I know that", he said in a whisper. "Just sit down, please."

Joyce broke into tears, ones that hadn't really stopped after they had begun on the previous night, nodding a few times as her oldest son wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you", Jim whispered, as the girl passed him on her way to the kitchen.

Nancy nodded, rushing to the kitchen. Only after reaching the room she stopped and closed her own eyes for a few seconds. She then furiously wiped at her cheeks, before checking the insides of the fridge.

 

Will sat on his bed, clutching at the diary in his hands, when someone came to his room and closed the door behind him. Startled, the boy dropped the book on his legs and wiped his tears to the sleeves of his shirt.

"I'm sorry", Lucas spoke up softly.

Screwing his eyes shut, Will rested his hands on top of the diary. He soon felt the bed tip right next to him and an arm wrap around his lower back. The touch made his eyes water even more and he bit back a cry, trying to calm down.

Lucas took a ragged breath, fumbling with the material of the other boy's shirt as he slightly held onto it. "I didn't think... She was safe, we were safe--."

"Stop it", Will breathed out, silencing his friend. "I-I'm not mad at you", he whispered.

The arm around him tightened its hold, pulling their sides flushed together. Lucas then slid his other arm from across his middle, enveloping him into a hug.

"But...", Lucas begun, watching at the side of Will's face.

"No", the boy choked, taking a deep breath. Then he turned his head a little and his eyes met the worried ones already on him. "He... He would've taken her, anyway. Y-you know that."

And Lucas watched how the brown eyes filled with tears. Not knowing what else to do, he leaned in and pressed his forehead against his friend's temple.

Will closed his eyes while shifting in the arms that held him, nuzzling his forehead against the other's in return. He took a hold of the diary, while his other hand found Lucas' arm and gripped onto it.

"I can be here", Lucas whispered after a while, his breath ghosting over his friend's face, "while you read it. I... I don't have to go."

Will nodded, their foreheads brushing together and the contact spreading warmth into the both of them.

Lucas opened his eyes, taking in the closed eyelids and tear tracked face of his friend. "We... You should start", he got out, even though his hands gripped more onto the shirt he held onto. He didn't want to let go just yet.

Pulling his head slightly away, Will opened his eyes. He immediately looked down to his lap, at the diary, before he removed his other hand from the arm that he had been holding. The arms around him stayed, embracing him with warmth - until they slowly begun to slid away.

"Don't", he whispered hurriedly, head whipping to the side to face Lucas. Their eyes met, wide from the startle of Will's sudden words. He blushed bright red and opened his mouth a few times. "Um..."

But Lucas swallowed and replaced his arms, holding his breath. "I'll stay", he said gently, voice trembling over the words, "like this."

Will stared at the boy for a while before he nodded and turned away, taking a deep breath. He then opened the diary again and stared at the first page.

" _Smile looks good on you_ ", he read out in a whisper, gently running a finger over the scribbled words.

Leaning in, Lucas dropped his forehead onto Will's shoulder and closed his eyes.


	42. There'll be peace when you're done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. OVER 10,000 HITS!!! And almost 400 kudos, too! (8 more to go, wow.)
> 
> Let me tell you - at first I always wondered why people didn't comment, but if there's really about 400 readers then I'm actually kind of glad that you all don't :D you would probably break this site after every new chapter, hah! I wouldn't mind the comments though, loving them!
> 
> Love, preciousbean

**There'll be peace when you're done**

 

"I think I found it, guys", Dustin said, causing Max and Mike to turn around. The boy sat on the floor before El's closet, the doors wide open, with a box by his crossed legs. "But I found something else, too", he added, voice softer than before.

"What?", Mike asked as he rushed over, while Max came to stand behind Dustin and looked over the boy's shoulder in wonder. 

"These", Dustin sighed, pointing at the far back of the closet. 

His two friends peered further in too, their eyes widening as soon as they saw what he meant.

"She'll be back before...", Max got out, the words sticking to her throat. "Before..."

"Christmas", Mike whispered, completing the sentence. 

He saw the present with his name on it, among the other ones, feeling a tug on his heart. It was wrapped in dark blue paper, instead of the red and green the others were, finished with a silver ribbon. 

"She was early", Dustin said softly. "I didn't even know she got us all something. We didn't do that last year", he continued, casting his eyes down onto the diary he had just found and the box it had been in. "We still have time to get her something, though."

Max reached for his shoulder, pulling away for a few seconds, before gently placing her hand on it. She saw the boy glance at it quickly, but she also saw the small tug of his lips as he did so. She really hoped it was a smile.

She missed his smile.

"Should we tell Will?", Mike asked slowly, trying to concentrate on the diary.

"Nah", Dustin shook his head a little. "We shouldn't bother him."

"Lucas went after him."

"Yeah."

"So...", Mike stared at his friend, before glancing at Max too. The girl met his gaze, her face mirroring his confusion.

"It's okay", Dustin assured them, closing the lid of the box from where he had found the diary and pushed it back inside the closet. "They need some time alone."

"What? Why?", Mike pressed, his eyebrows high on his forehead.

Dustin couldn't help the snort that he let out. "Seriously? You don't know?", the boy huffed in amazement. Then he turned to Max, who looked back at him with a blank face. "No, Max...not you too?"

"What?", she asked, frowning slightly at him in return.

Shaking his head, Dustin pushed himself up from the floor. "I'll go tell the chief we found them", he sighed, glancing at his friends. "Probably wants to read them himself."

"Yeah", Max nodded slowly. "Take it with you."

 

"You are weak", Five said slowly, eyeing El as he spoke. He then pointed behind her, but she couldn't turn around to see what. "There is bathroom."

"Privacy", she whispered in return, closing her eyes and trying to get rid of the cloudy feeling in her head.

Her ears kept ringing.

"Yes."

The bind around her brain slipped away, causing her muscles to relax, and she almost slumped down onto the couch from exhaustion. With a deep breath she begun to haul herself up from her seat, taking a step at a time around the few pieces of furniture in the basement.

Everything hurt. Every breath and every step. 

She hadn't even realized that she had staggered on her feet, before she felt the pain on her shoulder after bumping against a wall. 

Five watched her with furrowed eyebrows, walking a little behind her. "Help you?"

"No", El growled back, taking support from the wall as she slowly neared the bathroom. "Don't need your help."

She fumbled with the door handle for a few seconds, feeling as she was about to black out. And when she finally got it open, she almost fell down due to the sudden lack of support. 

Gripping onto the doorway, knuckles white, El turned around on her spot and faced Five.

"There is no window", he said, staring down as he towered over her with his height. "You can't escape."

"I know", she bit out, before she slammed the door shut. And right after it closed, she felt the tears she had been holding in fall down her cheeks.

El closed her eyes under the hard white light, her soft sobs sounding loud and annoying. After hearing a thud from the other side of the door, she slowly made her way along the tiled wall towards the sink. She washed her hands, then her face and neck, leaning onto the sink with her arms as her knees kept buckling.

There was a mirror on the wall before her, but she ignored it. 

She didn't want to see herself.

 

Jim rubbed at his stubble, eyeing the diary in Dustin's hands with a heavy heart. He shouldn't be asking it from a teen, he really shouldn't, but this was more than just a normal case. 

It was his and Joyce's daughter, Will and Jonathan's sister, and a friend to all of the teens currently in their house. Normal didn't quite describe the situation to him. But neither did personal, it was much more than that. 

"I guess", Dustin said slowly, sounding unsure. "But are you sure?"

"I'm sorry, kiddo", Jim murmured, shaking his head. "I shouldn't have asked that." He reached out for the diary, clearing his throat. "You said that there was another one? Where is it?"

"Oh, um, Will has it", the boy explained, offering the book to the man.

But he didn't take it.

Dustin saw the hesitation and if he wasn't something, it was stupid. "We could read through these, chief", he offered in a whisper. "I mean... We could help out. Even though we're just kids, we still can read."

Jim couldn't help himself. He let out a short, raspy chuckle. Then he dropped his outstretched hand down, the boy soon mimicking his action.

" _Jim?_ ", Jonathan's voice travelled from the living room to where they stood by the staircase. " _It's Ralph and Troy. Just drove to the yard._ "

"I'll be right there", the man raised his voice, eyes still glued onto the diary.

"If we... If we skim these through", Dustin suggested, "and if there's anything..."

"Then you'll let me know", Jim nodded, patting the boy's shoulder. "You're doing this as a friend, not as a part of an investigation, you got that?"

The boy nodded slowly, eyeing the man before him.

"So if it's too much, just stop and bring them to me."

 

Five held El's hand as they walked along the busy streets, Three on her other side. 

The older girl's buzz cut kept turning heads towards them - along with the fact that the two of them were dressed in nothing else but black. That was probably the reason the people didn't turn their gazes away either. 

El tugged at Five's hand, demanding answers without being able to speak. Her hands were as cold as ice, having almost lost their feeling already, and she kept shivering even though they walked pretty fast. 

The temperature had dropped drastically from the previous evening, when she hadn't even been dressed appropriately for staying outside to begin with.

"You need clothes", Five said slowly. "We need food. Then we will see someone."

She looked up at him wide eyed, tugging at his hand again. The least he could do was answer her questions, in her opinion. Communicating without speaking at all was hard, but she didn't want him to know the extent of her powers either.

"Someone we know", he said, before walking into a store. 

El looked around at the clothing racks, following him as he pulled her along. He then stopped by the coats and yanked one of its hanger before offering it to her.

"Put it on." 

It wasn't a command, but his voice told her not to mess around. So she took it and put it on, slowly zipping it up, glancing at the clerk who watched them from behind the counter in the otherwise not so busy store.

"These", Five added, pushing gloves to her hands.

Furrowing her eyebrows, El did as told. He then pulled her along again, grabbing a beanie on their way out and shoving it on her head, the two making their way towards Three who waited them by the door. 

"Hey!", someone yelled after them - the clerk, El knew. "Aren't you going to pay for them?"

Five stopped and turned around, causing the girl whose hand he held to turn too. "Pay?"

"Yes, with money?", the woman asked, sounding annoyed. 

El looked at the woman in worry. She didn't need a reminder of their drive, to where ever they now were. The other people in the store stood on their places, staring at them and obviously wondering what was going on.

"Don't have money", Five said calmly.

"Then put the clothes back, and I wont call the police."

"No", he pressed, narrowing his eyes. "My sister... She is cold."

The clerk glanced at El then, who looked back at her wide eyed and shook her head a little. The woman furrowed her eyebrows, before she turned back to Five. "You'll leave me no choice. I'll call the police."

Three opened the door, the bell ringing due to the movement, and let Five and El out before she followed them outside and into the crispy December air.

They continued their walk along the street and all El could think about was the slight chance of Jim finding out where she was. The thought warmed her more than the stolen jacket did.

 

Mike read every single page twice, nestled up in El's armchair, while Max waited sitting on her bed and Dustin waltzed around the room in a nervous manner. Will and Lucas still hadn't returned.

Her letters curled slightly, not quite linking but almost, the text looking hastily done with its crossed over words and smudges.

She had poured her heart out onto the diary, the emotions coming through the pages and screaming their pain at him. He couldn't stop the tears and quiet sobs that escaped his throat, the further he read. He couldn't stop reading, either.

Everything she remembered from the lab... it was all there, written down in her handwriting. All the things she had gone through had been bind into a book full of neglect, pain, and abuse - colored with the things she had done in her new life with the people she loved.

But there were other things too, in the between of her memories and other scribbles, random notes here and there which sometimes didn't make any sense to him. 

_Anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise._

Furrowing his eyebrows at the words, Mike brought a hand to wipe at his eyes before he turned the page. 

He could do this to her, live through her pain even thousands of times, if that was what it took to get her home.

 

"This is not a diary", Will whispered after a while, causing Lucas to lift his face from his friend's shoulder. "Well, it is... but not just a diary."

Furrowing his eyebrows, the other boy glanced at the open pages. "What do you mean?"

"She... She wrote about our camping trip, her birthday, and... Max's birthday", Will said slowly, pointing at the page and the scribbled 'title' on the top row. "But other things, too. Psychology, I think - monsters, and dreams too", he whispered, "nightmares."

"Did she... Did she write about the other numbers?"

He nodded weakly, changing the page. 

"Oh...", Lucas murmured.

"Nothing we didn't already know", Will told him softly.

Lucas watched him for a while, before he dropped his face back onto the shoulder and sniffed in the calming scent. He soon felt Will tilt his head and rest it slightly against his own, the realization causing his heart to skip a beat.

"She wrote about the first football game, too", Will said after a while, skimming through the page fast. "She loved it."

"Good", Lucas mumbled against his shoulder. 

He didn't notice the shiver he sent through his friend, nor he saw the blush that rose onto Will's cheeks. He simply enjoyed the comfort he got from him, from being with him, while still silently asking him for forgiveness.

 

"We need the...street name", Five spoke up, looking at Three as they stood in a small park area.

"Address", the girl corrected him. She then turned her eyes on El, gaze calculative. "How do we find it?"

Furrowing her eyebrows El looked around, then at the shops on the other side of the street. After a few seconds she pointed at one of them, remembering how Jim had once borrowed a large book to find a number when they had gone for a bite.

The smell of food surrounded them immediately after they entered the diner. Five glanced down at El, before slowly releasing the hold he had of her hand - silently signaling for her to move.

Fiddling with her bracelet, hand trembling at the feel of it, she walked up to the counter. The woman behind it offered her a sweet smile as soon as she saw her.

"How can I help you, sweetie?"

El was about to open her mouth, before she realized that she still couldn't get a word out. She then noticed the book she had been looking for, on the shelve behind the woman, and pointed at it shyly.

"White pages?", the woman asked confusedly, gaining a nod back from the girl. She grabbed the book and placed it onto the counter with a heavy thud, raising her eyebrows. "I hope you're looking for an address and not a phone number."

The girl glanced at her, smiling briefly and nodding. 

"You want something for your throat?", the waitress pursed her lips. "I could make you tea with some honey, does that sound good?"

Tea. 

Something so normal - compared to what she had been doing for the past hours - but even the mention of it warmed El's heart and almost brought tears into her eyes.

Reaching for her jeans pocket she pulled out two crumpled up dollar bills, and looked down at them before offering them to the waitress. 

She got a shake of an head as an answer, accompanied by a tiny smile that didn't quite reach the woman's eyes. "Keep them. Tea's on me this time."

 

"Four", Mike rasped out immediately after he saw the number at the top of the page, getting the attention of the two others in the room. He sat up straighter, hands trembling. "Here-, she wrote about Four", he said fast, while his friends rushed to him. 

"Read it", Dustin told him, Max nodding her head by the boy's side.

After clearing his throat, Mike read from the beginning: " _The dream about Four came back. It was dark. The flashing lights and the pain felt real..._ "

"Flashing lights?", Dustin asked, but Max hushed him and slapped his arm gently.

" _She had to touch me, for it to work_ ", Mike continued, his voice thin. " _I tried to push her away again, like I tried then. I didn't mean to kill her_ ", he said, lowering the diary down. " _The pain made me scream. It was an accident._ "

"Flashing lights?", Dustin repeated slowly, after a long silence.

"Four made...flashing lights?", Max asked, looking at the boys in shock.

"Three could make fire from her hands", Mike pointed out. "Maybe Four did something like that, too..."

"Electricity", Dustin breathed out. "The pain and the flashing lights - she could do electricity."

"She...", Mike swallowed, staring at the page in disbelief, "she electrocuted El? To get her back?"

"This is all messed up", Max whispered, furiously shaking her head. "This is fucking messed up... Is she even safe?", she pressed, glancing at the boys. "Do we... Do we even have time for this? We need to learn about him, but there has been nothing that's even close!"

"If he wanted to hurt her, he wouldn't have taken her away", Dustin reasoned, staring outside of the window before he turned his gaze back onto the diary.

Mike nodded. His vision was becoming blurry once again. "He wants something else."

"But... What?", Max stared at him, before turning to look at Dustin. "What does he want?"

"He's from the lab", Dustin pointed out, eyebrows furrowed, "and he came to get her - especially El. That has to mean something... We just don't know what."

Will and Lucas rushed back to the room then, causing Max and Dustin to turn around on their spots.

Mike got up from the armchair fast, his heart skipping a beat. "You found something?"

The two boys glanced at each other, Will hugging the diary to his chest. Lucas turned to their friends first, taking a deep breath. 

 

The waitress brought El a large cup of tea, with a small smile gracing her lips. "Here you go", she whispered, placing it onto the table before the girl. "It's hot, be careful."

And El could do nothing but smile back at her, trying to ignore the tightness in her throat.

"It's fine, sweetie, don't worry about it", the woman assured her softly, glancing at the two others in the booth before returning to the other side of the counter.

Five sat by El's side, Three on the other side of the table. He was skimming through the white pages fast, looking for something - someone - but El had no clue who.

Suddenly he closed his eyes, tilting his head back, face screwed up in what she thought was anger. Frustration.

"Still?", Three asked slowly, as the two girls watched him.

"Yes", he said through gritted teeth. 

Without another word Three took a hold of the large book, turned it around on the table, and then pulled it towards herself. "Idiot."

El's eyes widened in shock and she turned her gaze onto Five, not sure if she even wanted to know how he would react in the next few seconds. But compared to what she thought, Five's features softened and he opened his eyes to look at his friend on the other side of the table. 

Heart still beating wildly in her chest, El carefully sipped her tea and looked around them. Her gaze found the one of a police officer's, who stared at her from the other side of the diner. 

He had a paper in his hand which he glanced, before looking at her again. Then he turned to the other officer, who sat with him in the same booth.

Turning her gaze onto the table, El took a deep breath. She hoped that they wouldn't come to them, she really did, for the men's own safety.

She had no idea what Five would do.

The sound of a paper being ripped caught her attention, and she watched Three close the book on the other side of the table. 

"Ready."

 

"How's your face, kid?", Jim asked, after he had asked every possibly question that had came into his mind, glancing at the red nose and blackened eye.

"It's fine", Troy muttered.

"He still refuses to say how it happened", Ralph pointed out, casting a look at his son. "I'm glad the wife's out of town, she would've lost her mind."

The kids chose that exact moment to return downstairs, all the five of them freezing on their places after spotting the group in the living room. Dustin glanced at his friends, grimacing to himself as he realized he hadn't told them about Troy coming over.

"I think you can tell who he fought with", Jim said slowly after a long silence, glancing at the only boy with a split lip.

Mike stared at Troy, gripping onto the diary in his hands. But the other boy kept his eyes down on his shoes and didn't meet his gaze.

"What's going on?", Will asked, his voice gentle but thin. Lucas unconsciously came even closer to him as they stood side by side, their arms pressing together.

"We're going through what happened again", Jim told them, "to see if there's something else that we should know."

"You should go help Nancy", Joyce spoke up, offering the teens a small smile. "She's making something for you to eat."

Glancing briefly at each other, the five of them made their way to the kitchen.

 

"Nance."

"Mike?", she questioned, glancing at her brother before turning back to preparing the food.

"Could you drive us somewhere?", he asked fast, keeping his voice down just in case. "Today?"

Nancy put the knife from her hand down, before she turned around. "Where?"

"To the lab."

"...What do you know?", she asked slowly, glancing at the others behind his back briefly. 

Mike's jawline tensed, she saw it.

"Tell me and I'll drive you", Nancy whispered, causing the others to huddle closer to the siblings. "All of you."

"We found the diary", Will spoke up, showing the one in his hands before pointing at the other Mike held. "Two, actually."

"I know, Jim told us", she hurried them, glancing at the doorway. "You found something from them?"

"She knew about the gate when she was in the upside down, which took to the lab, but she never used it because she knew she would've got caught", Lucas explained fast.

"But she thought about something that none of us did", Will got out. "Maybe they never closed it, the gate..."

"They just stopped using it", Nancy completed his sentence in a whisper, eyes widening. "But how does this help now?"

"The man who took her, he was another experiment like her", Dustin said, getting her attention. "And what we know about the others, is that they're all violent--."

"Evil", Lucas interrupted him.

"But he took her, as in didn't hurt her", Dustin continued, sending a glare at his friend's way.

"He needed her for something", Mike finished weakly, eyes pleading for his sister to understand them. "And what else connects them, besides the lab?"

"You want to check it?", Nancy confirmed, gaining nods back as an answer. "But it's closed, empty." 

"That's what Brenner said", Dustin reminded her, "but he has lied about other things, too."

Nancy chewed her lower lip in thought, staring at her brother. "After dinner", she said then. "I'll say that I'm driving you guys home on my way."

"What about me?", Will spoke up, his eyebrows furrowed in worry. 

"You'll stay home."

"No", the boy shook his head. "I-I can help, too. Don't leave me out, please."

Just as Nancy was about to argue, Lucas cut in: "You'll stay over at my house today, okay?"

"Yeah", Will nodded slowly, looking up at his friend with slightly wide eyes.

"Don't tell anyone", Nancy pressed softly, glancing at each of the worried faces. "Not even Jonathan", she told Will, who nodded at her after a few seconds. "We'll leave after dinner."

 

There were soup and grilled sandwiches, curtesy of Nancy, but no matter how good it looked, smelled, and tasted no one really had an appetite.

Not even Dustin but he ate anyway, feeling pressured because of the silence that had fell over the dining room table. 

"We went yesterday evening over with Troy again", Jim said after a while.

"Yeah?", Will turned to him, waiting for him to continue.

"Nothing new to add to what we already know."

"Figures", Mike muttered, stirring his soup.

All the teenagers shared the same sullen look he had, some of them a more hostile one than the others, and Jonathan sighed at them.

"Without Troy, do you know how far we would've got with the search?", he asked, gaining all their attention. "We wouldn't know anything about the man, about the car or where they were driving. So just... just stop. All of you."

"Jonathan's right", Nancy said softly, looking at Mike. "You should apologize to him. It wasn't his fault, you know that."

"Being blamed for a kidnap isn't a holiday", Jim murmured. 

Meanwhile, Joyce was battling between finishing the dinner without a word and getting up from the table. She wanted to rush into her bedroom, lock the door, and bawl her eyes out.

But the stronger want, which kept nagging at the back of her head, was to rush into Indianapolis and shout her daughter's name at the streets - wishing that she was there and would hear her.

"...Mom", Will spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. 

Joyce turned to her son, offering him a small smile. "Yes, honey?", she sniffed.

"Um", the boy frowned slightly. "Can I sleep at Lucas' house today?"

Jonathan lifted his gaze onto his brother, eyebrows slightly furrowing.

"Y-yes, of course", Joyce whispered softly. "If that's what you want. And if it's alright with Lucas' parents", she added, turning to the boy in question.

"Yeah", Lucas nodded, glancing at Will briefly. "He's always welcome."

"I can drive them", Nancy offered. "I have to go home anyway, so I can drive them all."

Joyce nodded at her, sniffing before she turned back to her plate. "Thank you."

 

Jonathan watched Nancy and the teens get up from the table, the six of them hurriedly collecting their things before they rushed out of the door.

He then got up, shaking his head as he made his way to the front door, beginning to put on his coat. 

"Where are you going? Can't you stay at home?"

"I'm going after them", Jonathan said, glancing at the man by the doorway. His mother joined them just as he had finished wrapping a scarf around his neck. "If you're coming along, we're leaving now." 

Jim didn't need to be told twice. "We're taking my car."

"Sure."

"What's...what's going on?", Joyce asked as she rushed after them, having only stuffed her shoes on and grabbed the first coat she had found.

"I have no idea", Jonathan breathed out. "But it's something bad. I just know."

 

Nancy pulled the car over, parking it in front of the gates. "No one runs inside on their own", she pressed, glancing at the tightly packed boys on the backseat after giving Max a stern look.

Mike groaned, opening the door already. "We're not stupid", he hissed at his sister, after they all were outside.

"Just hot-headed", she retorted on her way to the back of the car, before she opened the trunk. 

The teens waited with their eyes on the now dark and gloomy laboratory, until another car's lights flashed over them.

"Fuck", Lucas cursed, squinting his eyes to see who it was.

"Are they from the lab?", Max asked, peering from behind Dustin's back.

Nancy turned around too, immediately sighing. "No."

The car pulled over behind them and the doors opened so quickly that no one had time to react.

"I should've known", Jim growled at them, banging the door closed. "You were going to break in to the lab."

"I-I can explain", Will got out, his eyes wide.

"Later", the man told him sternly, before turning to Nancy. "You really drove them here? Do you have any idea how dangerous and stupid this is?"

Nancy turned around and got a large bag out of the trunk, which she then dropped onto the ground with a heavy thud. 

"We're always equipped", Jonathan spoke on her behalf.

"For monster hunting", Nancy added, quirking her eyebrows. 

Mike turned to his sister wide eyed, while all the other teens stared at the bag. 

"We're not hunting a demogorgon", Jim said slowly, draping an arm around Joyce's shoulders to pull her closer.

"Not just for monster hunting", Jonathan corrected, his gaze staying on Nancy. She stared at Jim with a rebellious look on her face, not about to budge.

"We have a reason", she said. "We've thought about this."

"Brief us", Jim said then, startling everyone with his determination. Joyce looked at the children with a matching expression on her face, waiting for them to speak up.

"...What?", Mike asked, his eyes wide.

"We've broke into the lab before, but why we're doing it this time is a whole another thing. Brief us."

 

Without electricity the gate didn't budge, but fortunately it had been left slightly open.

"It must be Brenner", Joyce said as they neared the building, Jonathan and Nancy walking at the front with Mike trailing not far behind the two.

Jim nodded in agreement, glancing behind and at the rest of the teens. "If something happens, you run - alright?", he told them, getting a few unsure nods in return.

Max glanced at Dustin who walked by her side. Their gazes met briefly and he flashed her an encouraging smile. She answered to it, before she concentrated back onto the building that rose before them. But she couldn't ignore the warmth that he had caused to bubble inside her. She had really missed his smile.

Will placed a hand onto Lucas' arm, keeping it there as they walked. He had wanted to take his hand ever since they had stuffed into the backseat of the car, side by side. But he shouldn't.

"I'll keep you safe", he whispered, "all of you."

"Don't be too brave", was all he got as an answer. 

 

Nancy picked up the lock, not patient enough to wait around for anyone else, gaining impressed looks when she opened the front door after not even a minute had passed.

"Remind me again...", Dustin whispered as they got inside, looking around the dark lobby. "What is it that you're studying, again?"

"Burglary?", Mike asked in wonder, coming to his sister's side. "I mean, that was actually pretty cool. You're slowly becoming Nancy Drew."

"Maybe she is her", Dustin gasped.

"...If that's true, my whole childhood's been a lie", Mike murmured.

Rolling her eyes, Nancy turned to look at the map on the wall. 

"I didn't even realize there was one", Jim drawled, as he and the rest came to look at it too. He flicked on his flashlight and pointed at the floor plan.

"Large buildings and corporations tend to have", Nancy whispered, causing the man to chuckle at her response amusedly. "Where are we going?"

"Downstairs", Joyce told her, pointing at the spot from the map. "That's where the gate was, before... Probably still is."

"Are we all really going?", Jonathan asked slowly, turning to look at the teens. "We have no idea what's in there, it could be dangerous."

"Nothing's running towards us now", Jim pointed out, causing shivers to run through almost everyone as they looked further down the dark hallways. "If there's something, it's Brenner."

"We're going", Mike said strongly, eyeing the adults while ready to fight back. "You can't stop us."

"I know", Nancy said as she placed her hand onto his head. "Just be careful, okay?", she added, not just to him but for all the teens.

"So, what's the plan?", Dustin asked.

All of them simultaneously turned to look at Jim.

"I'm in charge?", the man asked in a whisper, eyebrows raised in slight amusement. "Good."

 

They took the stairs, reaching the bottom of the building quite easily. Finding the right part of the floor was a whole another challenge. 

"Should we have the suits, again?", Joyce whispered, pointing her flashlight at the directions on the wall as they passed them by.

"If I remember correctly", Jim begun, briefly glancing through another small window on a door, "there's a room, which we have to pass. The suits are in there."

"We don't all have to go, right?", the woman asked, glancing behind where the several pairs of feet followed their lead. "They can wait there, where it's safe."

"Safer", he corrected her softly. "And I'll keep them out as well as I can." 

Joyce nodded, concentrating onto the darkness and silence around them. It didn't feel normal.

 

"It's here", Jim said suddenly, gaining everyone's attention. He then opened the unlocked door slowly, eyebrows furrowing the more the door opened.

"Why is it open?", Jonathan questioned in a hushed whisper, coming to his side. "All the other doors were locked."

"Brenner", the man murmured. "If the power's out, he couldn't open this otherwise. It either means that he's here or that he has been - and I don't know which is worse."

The teens glanced at each other, none of them sure what was about to happen.

"We'll go in, put on the suits and then look around", Joyce went over their plan again, briefly stroking both of her sons' cheeks. "Nothing more."

Jim pulled at the handle and kept the door open for everyone, before pulling out a rock from his pocket to keep the door open. Just in case. 

 

There weren't enough suits for everyone, so they did what they had to. 

Jim, Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy each put on theirs while the teens watched them, their nervous feelings increasing every passing second. 

"We're just behind the door", Jim told the kids, as the four of them stood by it. 

"If something happens, you run, okay? You run", Joyce choked out, eyeing all the terrified faces with worry.

"Then you'll burn the place."

"What the hell?", Mike begun, staring at Nancy in disbelief. But there wasn't even a hint of humor on his sister's face. " _Burn the place?_ What's wrong--."

"She's right", Jonathan interrupted him gently, before looking at Will. "You know that."

Will swallowed, fighting back the tears. "I know", he breathed out.

"These aren't goodbyes", Jim reminded them softly. "We'll be right back, okay?"

The teens nodded at him slowly, not trusting their voices to say anything.

"See you in a minute", the man murmured. 

He then twisted the rod on the thick steel door and opened it, the four of them disappearing into the darkness on the other side of it.

Dustin reached for Max's hand, lacing their fingers, while Lucas wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders and pulled him closer.

But Mike stood on his place and waited, fiddling with the gun Nancy had pushed into his hand before she had put on the suit. 

 

El had never visited anyone who lived in the middle of a town. 

They got inside of a building and walked up the stairs, passing several doors on their way. She glanced at the different names and numbers, as Five tugged her along. 

Were they on their way to meet their father? The thought had passed her head a few times, but it didn't feel real. 

She heard Three's footsteps follow them to the end of the hallway, where they stopped in front of the last door. It only had a number on it.

Five raised his free hand and banged at the door a few times, the sudden loud noise startling El and causing her to take a step back. She felt a hand come to rest on her upper back, preventing her from backing up more, and she glanced at the girl who stood behind her.

The green eyes glanced down at her briefly, before they both turned away as they heard someone fiddle with the lock and then open the door.

"...Hi? Um, can I help you somehow?"

El stared at the woman with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yes", Five spoke up, his voice sounding somewhat gentle for once. "You can help us."

"How?"

"Let us in", he said slowly, his words causing the woman to step aside from the doorway.

She stared at him, eyes widening in shock as she gripped onto the door. "Five?", she whispered, blinking at the sight of the three of them entering her apartment. 

"Close the door, Miranda."

 

"T-this is not real."

They stared at what waited for them after the control room, frozen to their places. 

"Tell me, please...", Joyce continued. "Tell me, that I'm seeing this wrong."

"No", Jim got out, breath hitching at his throat, "you're not."

"What are we going to do?", Jonathan asked, eyes wide. He felt a hand slid into his and glanced at Nancy, who stood by his side.

She shook her head in a slow motion, eyes focused on the nightmare on the other side of the glass. "I-I don't know. I really don't know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. "What's up?"
> 
> And so I wake in the morning  
> And I step outside  
> And I take a deep breath and I get real high  
> And I scream from the top of my lungs...
> 
>  
> 
> _What's going on?_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry for the cliffhanger. Next chapter's gonna be a blast! 
> 
> (Ps. You guys have theories already. I know.)


	43. Hey little sister, who is it you're with?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Check out the link below for the **audio book auditions** :
> 
> https://www.castingcall.club/projects/never-gonna-give-you-up-stranger-things-fanmade-book-audio-book-auditions
> 
>  **MamaFran** informed me that some of the roles are still missing! So if you feel like giving your voice to any of the boys, or even for minor roles, you still have time to do so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I'm sorry I kept you waiting for this long, I simply didn't feel like opening my computer or anything during the weekend. 
> 
> Just a gentle reminder to all of you: life is short. I'm not a religious person, but where we are now...this is only temporary. I don't know what comes after, if it's something better or worse or nothing, but we should all enjoy this life as much as we can. We should spend it doing the things we enjoy and find worth our time.
> 
> And one of the things I enjoy just happens to be writing.

**Hey little sister, who is it you're with?**

 

"Five?"

Five looked around the living room, of which he stood in the middle of, before he turned his calculative gaze on the woman. "Yes."

"I-I wouldn't have recognized you, if--", Miranda trailed off in the middle of her sentence, realizing that what she had been about to say wasn't necessarily wise. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm her beating heart, and offered him a brief smile. "You've grown into a handsome man, I see. Nineteen years old already. You were only six when I last saw you." 

She then averted her gaze onto the young woman by his side, looking over her. "Three, is it?", she asked, gaining a nod back. Despite the threatening atmosphere, she couldn't help but smile. "You still stick together, the two of you..."

Not being able to stay put any longer, El peeked from behind Five's back, where he had guided her when they had entered the apartment. 

The voice - it was familiar, yet she wasn't quite sure if she actually recognized it or if it just sounded like someone else's. 

She met the woman's gaze and soon saw her cover her mouth with a hand. 

"E-eleven?"

Five turned his head to look down at the girl and she met his gaze, not sure what was happening. There was something in his eyes this time, something she hadn't seen before. He changed their places, by taking a hold of her shoulders and gently moving her to stand in front of him.

"Is it... Is it really you?", Miranda whispered, slowly coming closer to the girl. Her hands were shaking, El saw that, but she also noticed the tears in the woman's eyes.

El nodded, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She then lifted up her jacket's sleeve to show the tattoo on her wrist, something she hadn't done in a long time. Immediately her heart felt heavier, as if it had changed into rocks that weighted her down.

She was back to square one.

The woman in front of her brought both of her hands over her mouth, taking deep breaths behind them. She then let out a startled laugh. "I thought I would never see you again."

 

"We...", Jonathan swallowed, staring at the large dark hall on the other side of the windows. The power clearly wasn't out, not from the whole building at least, as the lights far up in the ceiling kept flickering in brief flashes. "We should've brought a camera."

That was the only thing that came to his mind, because of the shock and confusion of what they saw. He gripped tighter onto Nancy's hand, the gloves they wore feeling like they were on the way, while listening to her labored breathing through the yellow suit. 

It could have been a twisted nightmare.

They saw the gate, covered in slimy vines that pulsated in an uneven rhythm, looming at the furthest wall from them. However, the gate wasn't what they were worried about the most.

The oval shaped lumps, identical to the ones Jim and Joyce had last seen two years ago in the upside down, covered the floors throughout the whole room. 

Tens of eggs, scattered around - and probably ready to hatch.

"What can we do?", Joyce asked as she took a hold of Jim's arm, only to let go a while after when he begun draping it around her instead.

"Do you see him?", he murmured, ignoring her question for the moment, eyes scanning over the dark room with flickering lights. "Do you see Brenner?"

"No", Nancy said. "I don't see anything that moves."

"Except for that thing in the tank", Jonathan pointed out slowly. 

The three pairs of eyes found the tank too, which stood in the middle of the room with a part of it covered in the pulsating vines. Then they saw it, the movement of something else than the slimy organism that had spread itself around the room. 

It - whatever it actually were - was tightly stuffed inside the glass tank, without much room to move. 

"We can't do anything", Jim breathed out in realization, shaking his head in a slow motion. 

"Wait--", Joyce begun, eyes widening as she turned to him. "You mean that we're just going to give up? We're not going to try to do something, _anything_?"

"What about a fire?", Jonathan spoke out. "Nothing survives a fire, if there's no place to escape."

"But the gate is there", Nancy reminded him, eyebrows furrowing as she thought over his words. "If it weren't we could simply light them up, but the gate is what brings them here."

"I have a feeling that El would know what we should do", Jim murmured. He stared at the tank, waiting for the thing inside it to move again. "She was the one to open the gate in the first place, even though it was an accident."

"We need to do something, soon", Joyce got out. "Otherwise... "

Jim shook his head. "If Brenner doesn't find out we were here, then we should still have time."

"It's like he's breeding them", Jonathan said, interrupting their thoughts. "The way they're all here, and not on the other side of the gate... They're all here", he pressed.

"Where did he even get so many?", Nancy asked, taking a step closer to the glass. "Did he bring them here? I mean... There's at least twenty of them", she pointed out weakly. "Could be thirty."

"The...the slugs", Joyce got out, eyes widening as she stared ahead and into the hall. "H-he saved them, _for this_ , after the operation..."

"Will's operation?", Jonathan turned to his mother, who nodded her head furiously.

"No", Jim growled, eyebrows furrowing in anger and concentration, as he kept memorizing every single detail from what he saw. "It can't be."

"Remember how many there were?", Joyce insisted. "How...How he didn't fight against us? About having the operation? About other things, too - _the papers_?", she rambled on.

Tightening his hold of her, pulling her closer to his side, Jim kept staring at the tank. 

"You remember it, I know you do", she breathed out. "And it was all for this."

"We need to get out", Jonathan said fast. "We need to make sure that he doesn't know we were here."

"We need more time", Jim agreed grimly.

 

Five and Three sat at the kitchen table, eating something that Miranda had got out for them. 

El wasn't hungry, not anymore. She sat on the couch, every now and then glancing at the two but otherwise concentrating on the woman by her side. 

Something about her felt familiar. Her voice maybe. It was soft but a little raspy, nothing like she had ever heard before. Or maybe it was her smell which she remembered - the coconut scent that her whole home smelled of. 

Miranda noticed the confused and worried expression on the girl's face. "You won't probably remember me, but I took care of you when you were just a baby", she whispered softly, eyeing the teen with her gentle eyes. 

The lines on the girl's forehead smoothened, before her eyebrows rose a little in surprise. 

"But look at you...", the woman continued, bringing a hand to tug El's slightly dirty hair behind her ear. "I knew you would grew beautiful. You were the most beautiful baby I had ever seen", she added, breaking into a tiny smile which faded as soon as it came.

El glanced at the two others at the table, before turning her gaze back onto the woman. She offered her a small smile, not sure what else to do.

"Eleven, I'm going to take a hold of your hand", the woman whispered, and after gaining a tiny nod she clasped the girl's hand gently. "Give it a squeeze if it's 'yes', okay?"

And El squeezed the slightly bigger but delicate hand a little.

Miranda took in a deep breath, nodding. "Yes, just like that... Can you speak?"

Another squeeze. El glanced over the woman's shoulder, before focusing on her face again.

"He won't let you speak."

The sad, brown eyes kept staring at the horrified grey ones. El squeezed the hand again.

But this time Miranda squeezed back. "Do you need help?"

El stared at her, careful not to move her hand after she noticed the approaching figure.

"Miranda", Five said, his voice low. "Help us?"

The woman slowly turned her gaze onto him, not letting go of the hand she held. "How? You won't even tell me what happened, why you're here--."

"Our father", he pressed, glancing at the girl on the couch. "Help us find him."

"I can't, I'm sorry."

Five narrowed his eyes at her. "Tell us."

And Miranda winced, startling El who turned back to her, the woman's eyebrows furrowing under the uncomfortable feeling. "I can't, I-I don't know who or where he is."

After hearing her words Five looked away, dropping the pressure off her head.

"Dr. Brenner is the only one who knows", she hurried to explain. "H-he has all the papers, files, everything. I was...", the woman breathed out, glancing at the girl by her side. "I took care of Eleven, that was all."

"You left", Five turned back around, staring at her coldly.

"I know", Miranda whispered, glancing at each one of them. "Brenner pushed me aside, I had no choice."

"Papa locked us away", Three spoke up, her eyebrows furrowed. "No yellow room, no others. Alone. Then...", she said, turning her gaze onto Five. "We escaped from truck."

El had so many questions, none of them which she could say out loud. Her gaze bounced between Five and Three, waiting for more. 

"Brenner moved you?", Miranda asked, gaining slow nods as an answer. "Where? When?"

Five brought a hand up and towards his hair, pointing at it. "I don't cut it. They didn't, either", he said as an way to explain. "They didn't come to me."

"It's been long, then", the woman nodded.

"We came here", Five continued, his eyes moving onto his sister, "looked for Eleven."

The hand Miranda held tensed for a fraction of a second, but the woman felt it. She glanced down at their joined hands, and only then noticed the bracelet on the girl's left wrist. "Was she at the lab, still?", she asked, trying to keep her voice even.

"No."

"Where was she?"

"Outside", Five answered calmly, glancing at the woman. "I took her home."

"Did she...", Miranda asked slowly, stroking El's hand, "want to go with you?" The dark eyes stared at her and she stared right back. The hand in hers didn't move. "Or did you take her?"

El then gave her hand a small squeeze, causing the woman's heart to skip a beat. 

"I took her home", Five repeated, narrowing his eyes. "She belongs with me."

"It's alright", Miranda nodded stiffly, glancing at the girl by her side. "But about your father... I can't help you. Only Brenner can."

"Ask him."

"I'll call him."

 

"Why won't you tell us?", Will asked, glancing up at his big brother as they walked along the dark corridors again. 

Jonathan, Nancy, Jim, and his mother had rushed back to the room they had been waiting in, closed the door behind them and twisted the rod on it tightly, before returning the yellow suits to their places. They hadn't said a word.

"When we're out", Jonathan said in a whisper, placing a hand onto his brother's back. "We need to get out."

"Was...was Brenner there?", Mike asked. He kept glancing at Nancy as they walked, who shook her head at his question. 

"Didn't see him", she got out, pulling him along when they took a turn. She held the gun once again in her other hand, after having taken it back from her brother. "But I'll tell you everything, once we're out of here."

 

Their group practically ran up the stairs to the first floor, Jim being the last one and making sure that they left nothing behind. When they opened the door to the dark lobby, they heard it.

The telephone.

"I thought the power was out?", Will whispered.

"It wasn't", Jonathan told him, placing a hand onto the tiny shoulder as he kept guiding his brother towards the door. 

The loud rings echoed in the empty hall, sounding frantic.

"Should we answer it?", Dustin asked as they were passing the front desk, glancing at the adults.

"No", Jim shook his head. "No one can know we were here."

The phone kept ringing and Mike glanced at its direction once more, before he too walked out of the door.

 

"He must be out of the building already", Miranda sighed, placing the phone back to its holder. "Neither his office, nor the reception answers. I also tried his cellular, but he's not picking up."

"You don't know his name?", Five asked then, pacing back and forth, voicing the question he had been thinking about while waiting. "Our father's name?"

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry."

Five sat down into an armchair at the other side of the living room, staring at his hands. El glanced at Three, who kept her eyes on her friend. 

"Could you stay?", Miranda asked after a long silence, startling everyone. "For the night?"

"No."

"Five. I've missed her, too."

Glancing at his sister, Five furrowed his eyebrows in thought. El met his gaze, waiting for his answer as her stomach knotted in anticipation. 

"No", he then repeated, voice stronger this time. 

"At least for one hour", Miranda begged softly. "That's all I ask for."

The young man turned his gaze onto the floor, before he slowly nodded.

 

"I'll leave this here", Miranda said gently, placing a rolled up towel onto the bathroom counter. "Are you sure you don't need clean clothes?"

El shook her head, while already beginning to take off her pink jacket. 

Wearing the same clothes for a weekend wasn't bad, compared to wearing them for an year straight. Changing now would've been the same as accepting this, whatever this was, as her new life. Because it wasn't. 

She was going home.

"...I'll get you some food ready, while you shower."

Nodding this time, the girl turned to offer the woman a small, brief smile. 

Miranda bit her lip, hesitating in the doorway. "See you in a bit."

Then the door closed and El immediately went over to lock it. She took off the rest of her clothes and hurried into the shower, while reminding herself that Miranda was safe. For some reason Five seemed to like her, trust her even, so maybe he wouldn't hurt her.

She picked up the soap with shaking hands, trying to enjoy the warm water pouring over her. 

No matter how many times she washed herself, she still felt dirty.

 

It was on the exact second they all had got inside the Byers-Hopper house and Jonathan had closed the door behind them, that they heard the sharp rang come from the kitchen.

Jim grabbed the phone in a hurry, almost dropping it from his hand before placing it to his ear. "Hopper", he breathed out.

" _Chief? I've been trying to call you for an hour_ ", Callahan exclaimed. " _They called--_."

"Who?"

" _From Indianapolis, some officers. They saw her._ "

"...They saw El?"

The words he got out didn't sound his, but they effectively silenced the whole living room. 

Joyce ran to his side, her eyes wide, while Jonathan gently hugged Will to his chest from behind. Mike felt Dustin's grip on his shoulder, while Nancy took a hold of his hand.

" _In a diner, with an older guy and a girl. But the younger girl - she matched the flier's picture. The guy was at least five feet and ten, could've been taller. He had dark, shoulder length hair, while the other girl had a shaved head._ " 

"Are they sure it was her?", Jim asked slowly as he wrapped an arm around Joyce, who he felt staring at him and waiting for the news.

" _Well...that wasn't their only appearance. There was a video from a store, also from today, of the same teens stealing clothes. The same officers showed her picture to the clerk, and she recognized her. The guy dressed her, coat and stuff, and when the clerk asked them to pay he said that he didn't have any money_ ", the line got silent for a while. " _But when asked to give the clothes back, his response was something along the lines that 'his sister is cold', so he couldn't do that._ "

Jim furrowed his eyebrows, staring at the wall over the phone. "...They were sure it was her?", he murmured after a long silence, knowing that he repeated himself. His mind buzzed like he had taken something stronger than beer.

" _I asked about a hundred times--._ "

"They were sure?"

" _One hundred percent, chief._ "

Closing his eyes, Jim sighed. 

" _The one who I spoke with said that they tried to follow them, but they were too quick. This is all we got, I'm sorry--._ "

"No... Thank you, Callahan."

" _I'll call you if we hear more_ ", the man promised.

After the call ended, Jim turned around with the woman in his arms and faced the rest in the room. 

"Was it her?", Joyce whispered, breaking the silence. 

"They think so", he nodded slowly, voice thick. "If it's her, the girl they saw, she's in Indianapolis. There's a guy and a girl with her, both older. Some officers saw her at a diner. There was also a report from a store, from where the three of them stole some clothes."

"Clothes?", Jonathan asked, eyebrows furrowing.

"Did she look okay?", Joyce pressed as she gently pulled away from the arms that held her, looking up at the man. "Did they...did they say anything?"

"I'm going there", Jim stated, ignoring the shocked questions. "But before that, we need to discuss about something", he continued, turning to look at the teens. They froze under his hard stare, eyes widening in shock. "What you did--."

"We didn't know!", Nancy said fast, before the man even got the chance to finish his sentence. Mike turned to look at her wide eyed, while he felt the grip on his hand tighten. 

"Do you even understand what you could've done?", Jim hissed. "You're an adult, you should've known!"

"How?", she breathed out. "How could we have known about _that_?"

"Because it's a lab, that's why!", the man growled out. "The same lab where they opened the gate, and from where a monster, if you didn't remember, was set loose two years ago. The same fucking lab--."

"You saw something, didn't you?", Will interrupted the rant, his soft voice trembling as he looked between the two adults. "Something bad."

"There was--."

"Jon, no", Jim interrupted, shaking his head.

"They deserve to know!", Jonathan rasped out. "Their friend - _our sister_ ", he pressed, voice now calmer and softer, while he kept an arm around Will's shoulders, "she could be in danger. But we're all in danger too, this whole town."

Will tried to look up at him, while the rest of the teens turned to him wide eyed. But Jonathan kept his gaze fixed on Jim, waiting for him to say something.

"They are teens, we know, but they've seen the same things that we have", Nancy spoke up, trying to keep her voice even. "Some things even worse", she added weakly, glancing at her brother.

Jim rubbed at his face, sighing deeply. 

Lucas sent a worried glance at Will's way, who leaned against his brother more. 

"The gate was there", Joyce spoke up, eyeing the teens as if waiting them to break due to what she told them. "It was there, the whole room covered in...in the slime and vines."

Max reached for the hand she had held before too, already missing its reassuring warmth, and Dustin laced their fingers as soon as their hands touched. 

"But there were eggs. Twenty, thirty, I don't know", the woman breathed out, her eyes finding Will's. "It looked like they had been brought there--."

"By Brenner", Will whispered, swallowing hard. "The ones from inside me."

Mike tried to keep the tears away as he stared at Joyce, while Dustin gripped onto his shoulder tighter and Nancy gave his hand a squeeze.

"There was something else, too", Jonathan continued, causing everyone's attention to turn back to him. "Something worse."

 

When El returned into the kitchen, Miranda had warmed her food like she had promised. The girl glanced at Five and Three who stood quite close to each other in the living room, foreheads almost pressed together as they whispered about something.

"They were always together, when they were small", the woman said softly, as they both sat down at the small table. "They grew close - really close. It broke her when they got separated."

El glanced at her, scrunching her nose a little as she dug into the plate of pasta.

"You probably know what she can do... There was an accident. Brenner decided to label her as 'volatile' - like he did with Five later, I heard", Miranda whispered. "A little after that he decided to separate all of you, thinking it would be the best if none of you had any connections with each other."

Startled, El reached for the woman's hand while staring at her in wonder. _Separate?_

After hearing her voice, even though it was inside her head, Miranda broke into a smile - a real and wide one this time. She placed her hand over the girl's gently. "Telepathy", she whispered. Her smile changed into a sad one then. "No wonder Brenner liked you the most." 

Casting her eyes back to the plate, the girl tried to continue with her food.

"But, yes - he separated you. There were other children, ten already when you came along", she breathed out the words, while stroking the small hand that rested on the table under hers. "We didn't even know what you could do... But Brenner knew you were special, as he already had your brother on the project. Your father, he... I think he was a scientist, like Brenner."

 _Five's mother?_ , El asked, poking pasta into her fork slowly, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought over the things she had just heard. _She was in Ultra, too?_

"You know more than I thought."

The girl kept chewing her food as she glanced at the woman.

"Both of your mothers were, that's why... That was why your father found them, I think."

_He did it for science. Us._

"I'm sorry."

_It doesn't matter, what he did._

"You have a family now, don't you?", Miranda whispered after a while, briefly touching the golden bracelet. "They love you?"

Swallowing the lump from her throat, El glanced at the heart pendant. 

_Yes._

"Don't you want to go home?"

El lifted her gaze to meet the woman's. _He wont stop, if I don't help now._

 

"So... What are we going to do?", Mike asked, his voice thin as he stared at the floorboards.

"I'm taking you all home", Jim murmured, getting up from the couch. "Then I'm going to Indianapolis."

"I'm going with you", Jonathan said, standing up too.

"Me too", Nancy nodded. "I'm going too."

Jim shook his head at the two slowly. "No."

"And what are we going to do, huh?", Joyce pressed as she too stood up, facing Jim. "Are we just going to sit here, wait for you to come back and possibly die while doing so?"

"No one is going to die!", Jim growled back at her.

"We are, if we can't help!", she cried out. "You saw it - you did! Just admit that you need help!"

"It's dangerous--."

"This isn't some one-man-show, Jim Hopper, and you know it", Joyce hissed. "We're a team. This is about our family, our daughter, and our town. Not yours, _ours_."

"You are not going to the lab alone", Jim said, his voice now gentle as he looked at her. 

"I am", she insisted softly, offering him a brief smile, "if that's what it takes to end this madness."

 

Miranda watched how El put on her shoes, then coat, trying not to cry. She turned to look at Five who stood close to his sister, silently waiting for her. Three already had her hand on the door handle.

"Do you have to go?", the woman whispered. "You could stay the night, it's no trouble. Or...or I could drive you", she suggested. "Wherever you're going, I-I could drive you."

El met her gaze, the soft brown eyes filled with sadness.

"Why?", Five drawled, his voice cold.

"I want some more time with Eleven", Miranda said softly, reaching out for the girl and touching her cheek gently. 

She had spend years wondering how the girl was doing and secretly getting information from an ex-coworker from the laboratory, as Brenner had refused to tell her anything. She had lost a baby she had cared for two years, having been pushed away for loving her too much and for wanting the best for her.

And now the girl stood right before her, having once again been taken from her parents - but she could help her this time. 

"We are going to Brenner", Five said then, eyeing the woman as he slowly let the words out. "You know where he is?"

Miranda nodded fast, dropping her hand down. "Yes, I know. I can take you there."

 

"Jonathan, look at me", Nancy whispered, after closing the door to the patio behind her back and going to him.

He turned around, from where he had been watching the now frozen surface of the pond at their backyard, rubbing at his arms over the sweater. "Yeah?", he sniffed.

She closed their distance, cupping his cheeks before placing her lips against his. 

Jonathan huffed softly in surprise, before deepening the kiss by circling his arms around her and bringing her even closer. Nancy slid her arms around his neck, feeling how his tears mingled together with her own.

He pulled slightly away after a while, rubbing at her back in an attempt to warm her while he watched her curiously. "What was that for?", he rasped out.

"I-I just", Nancy stammered, feeling her face heat up. "I just wanted to."

Jonathan broke into a small smile as he watched her. "I had to wait for you quite long, you know that?"

She was just about to open her mouth, to apologize, when he leaned forward and pecked her lips slowly. He didn't fully pull away afterwards, letting his nose brush against hers and the kiss to linger for a while longer. 

"I'm just teasing you, Nance", he murmured after a few seconds. "It's cool."

Letting out a soft laugh, Nancy nodded. "I deserved it."

"You can make it up for me", Jonathan whispered, and chuckled as she dropped her face onto his shoulder in embarrassment. 

"I love you", she mumbled against his sweater.

Hiding his face against her hair, he smiled. "Love you."

 

Joyce was packing a bag for Jim, with a few of El's clothes and some food, while the man himself called through a list of parents to explain the things they had found out. After all, it wasn't his choice to make whether to take someone else's children into the mess their family already was in. 

Max's mother didn't answer, just like he had thought, but the other parents were now on their way over to their house. 

"Max", the man murmured, getting the girl's attention. "Do you want me to take you home?"

She shook her head, glancing at him from where she sat with Dustin. "I'm fine."

Nodding, Jim glanced at the other teens. "Your parents are coming over."

 

"You left something out", Joyce whispered when Jim joined her in the kitchen. "I know you did, just...tell me, please."

"Callahan said something", he murmured, coming to lean against the counter which she stood next to.

"What was it?", she asked, reaching for his hand.

"He...", Jim cleared his throat. "There's a...possibility, that the man who took her is her brother."

Joyce's eyes widened as she slowly shook her head. "It can't be..."

"He apparently said so himself, called her his sister at the store from where they stole the clothes from."

"What?", Jonathan asked from behind them, causing the adults to turn around to face him and Nancy on the doorway. "His _what_?", he pressed, eyes darting between the two adults.

"We don't know for sure", Jim murmured, trying to stay calm himself.

"He's related to her?", Jonathan continued. He brought his hands up to rank them through his hair, while Nancy turned away from them. "And he's from the lab?", he added, voice now low. "Could she actually know him?"

"Maybe", Joyce whispered, watching her eldest son. "We don't know for sure."

 

Dustin settled onto the couch, from the tensed upright position he had been on. Max gave his hand a squeeze then, causing him to turn his gaze on her. 

She looked at him, leaning back against the headrest and near his shoulder. He glanced at their hands briefly before he focused back on her, suddenly feeling nervous.

Their friends had probably all seen them, no doubt, as they weren't exactly hiding. But none of them payed any attention to them.

He offered her a brief smile, hoping it was a reassuring one. 

And after a few long seconds, Max smiled back. Then she dropped her head onto his shoulder, coming to lean to his side and causing his cheeks to flush bright red. 

Not knowing what else he could do, Dustin brought their joined hands onto his lap and tried to calm his beating heart down. 

He would never hear the end of the teasing if his parents saw them, when they would soon come over, with him as red as a tomato. 

 

Will leaned his head back on the other couch, Lucas and Mike on both of his sides, keeping his eyes closed as he focused onto connecting El.

He had been doing so every chance he got, when he felt strong enough to try again. But so far it had been all for nothing. Mind was something more complex than anything he had ever known, layered and locked, hidden under what seemed like several passwords. 

But he knew her password. At least he had before. 

For the past day her mind felt like she had build a barrier around herself, and he was the one who tried to knock the bricks out of the way to get to her. 

"You're doing it again", Lucas' gentle words caught his attention, causing his concentration to slip a little.

"Mm-hm", Will nodded, keeping his eyes closed. 

"Is he trying to connect El?", Mike confirmed.

"Yeah..."

Mike turned his gaze away from his friends, glancing at Rocket who sat by his feet. He reached for it's floppy ears, scratching behind them while the dog licked his wrist. "I wish I could do that, too."

Lucas watched him, furrowing his eyebrows. "I know", he murmured. His hand that rested on Will's arm felt like it was on fire, as if it was trying to remind him of the contact they were having.

"You don't", his friend shook his head slowly, before swallowing the lump in his throat. "I... I feel useless. I can't do anything to help her."

"That's not true", Will whispered, startling both of his friends. "She loves you, and just knowing that you do too helps her."

Mike covered his face as the tears that he had held onto fell down his cheeks. 

Lucas sighed, feeling helpless. "Mike, don't--."

"I didn't say it", the boy got out in a sob, voice trembling over the words. "T-that I love her... I never said it."

Will opened his own eyes then, both he and Lucas huddling closed to their friend. "Mike, don't", he said softly. "She knows you do."

"But I didn't say it", the boy sniffed. "I n-never said it..."

"You didn't need to, buddy", Lucas whispered. "You can tell her soon, okay?"

"W-when?", Mike asked, dropping his hands onto his lap. He stared ahead, blinking away the tears while trying to even his breaths. "When is soon?", he whispered.


	44. I died in your arms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Thank you for the comments and kudos <3

**I died in your arms**

 

The fact that it was already almost midnight wasn't so clear in one of the houses in Hawkins.

Four sets of parents along with a few police officers sat at the dining room table, talking everything over in hushed whispers while their children waited in the living room.

Holly sat on Nancy's lap, the two cuddled up under a blanket as they napped. Jonathan was by their side, arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and eyes fixed on the carpet as he thought over what he had overheard in the kitchen earlier in the evening.

Lucas held his brother as he walked in a slow circle around the room, feeling too restless to simply sit down. He sang something in a low voice, bouncing the baby every once in a while. Will's tired eyes followed him, while he fiddled with his hands on his lap, the soft voice of his friend barely reaching his ears. 

Mike looked over where two of their friends sat together, on the same couch as Will, only then noticing their clasped hands. When his eyes met the ones of Dustin he watched the boy's cheeks turn pink, raising his eyebrows at the sight. He glanced at Max and could see the relaxed features of her face, even though she looked into different direction. 

If it had been any other time, he would have been overjoyed for his two friends. But now they only reminded him of the girl he missed, and of how much he wanted to hold her hand through all of this. And if Mike was being honest to himself, he would rather be with her - no matter where or how hard it were. 

Being together, under any circumstances, would be so much better than this. 

 

"Just sleep for now, okay?", Miranda said, tucking El under a blanket onto the couch. "We'll leave early in the morning."

The girl nodded, fiddling with the blanket and bringing it up to her chin.

Furrowing her eyebrows, the woman brought a hand to stroke the brown curls. "I don't know what to do", she whispered, choking on her words. "I--. I'll try to keep you safe, for as long as I can, I promise that."

El opened her mouth, letting out a strangled hum from her throat. Furrowing her eyebrows, she brought up a hand to her throat. It hurt.

"I'm so sorry", Miranda whispered softly, sniffling due to the sudden tears. "He's just trying to take care of you, to keep you safe", she tried to explain, even though she frowned at the words herself. 

_I know_ , El told her gently, touching the hand that now rested on her cheek. _He doesn't understand._

"He loves you in his own way, ever since he met you", the woman explained, kneeling onto the floor and bringing their heads close together. "I wanted you to grow together, to have at least each other. The other children too, they met once or twice in a week. But I made Brenner allow Five to your first tests, to let you meet every day...", she trailed off, taking a deep breath.

_But...I don't remember him._

"You were still a baby", Miranda smiled briefly. "But he was different with you, compared to what he was before. You... you made him better. You made me better, too", she added softly. 

_How?_ , El asked softly, glancing over the woman's shoulder at the dark room when someone walked past the doorway. _How did I make you better?_

"I-I was the first to hold you, when you came to us", Miranda whispered, breaking into tears. "You were the child I never had, and I still cherish every moment I got to spend taking care of you", she choked out, her hand trembling as it fell down from the girl's cheek. "And I promise you, no matter what happens, I'll take you back to your home."

Sniffing and blinking away her own tears, El nodded. She grasped onto the hand that now rested on the couch. _Thank you._

Miranda smiled, before glancing at the clock. "Sleep now, you need all the rest you can get", she said softly, before placing a gentle kiss onto the girl's forehead. "I'll watch over you", she promised in a hushed whisper.

And El closed her eyes, soon lulling into light sleep, comforted by the warm presence by her side and the hand that never left hers. 

 

"Why isn't your mom at home?"

"I don't know."

"What about Billy?", Dustin tried, eyebrows furrowing in wonder. 

Shrugging her shoulders, Max stared at their joined hands with a slight pout on her face. She hadn't been at home either, so she had no clue. 

"Mom was at home on... Wednesday morning, I think. But Billy could just be out somewhere, I really don't know", she sighed, dropping her head back. "Does it even matter? I'm not there either." 

"No, I just...", Dustin begun gently, taken aback by her slightly harsh tone. "I just wondered. That really sucks."

"Tell me about it", the girl breathed out, turning to look at him. "Could we pop outside?", she whispered suddenly, glancing at the patio doors. "The air's stuffy."

"Um, sure."

Max basically dragged him out, both immediately shivering when the cold air reached them. 

Looking at her, Dustin scrunched up his face in discomfort. "This is too refreshing."

"Don't complain, just enjoy it."

"Honestly, you're such a weirdo", the boy sighed, rubbing his arms. "Who enjoys freezing to death?"

"It's not even that cold, come on", Max rolled her eyes at him, before looking over the backyard. 

She could see a dog's figure, walking by the frozen pond. Then another one, tens of feet away.

Dustin eyed her for a while, before looking away. The cold air had cleared his tired head, like he imagined jumping into freezing water would. "So, um...", he trailed off. 

"Say", she said from a few feet away. He could hear her jumping on her place.

"I didn't know you were dating that guy", Dustin spoke out, trying to keep his voice even. "Jake."

"I'm not."

He felt the need to glance at her, to see the same sincerity on her face that was clear on her voice, but he couldn't. "You sure about that?", he blurted the words out, grimacing at himself afterwards.

"Yeah", Max said slowly, eyeing him in wonder. "Why?"

Instead of answering Dustin walked away, going to lean against the railing. The girl followed him, not sure what was going on. 

"Hey", she came to his side, peering at his face. "Are you, I don't know, mad at me?"

"No", the boy snorted. "That's stupid, why would I be?"

"I don't know", Max said while turning around, leaning her back against the railing as she wanted to see his face. He still stared ahead, not even glancing at her way. "Are you jealous?", she sniggered a little, but afterwards bit her lip in anticipation while looking at him.

Dustin turned his gaze down and onto his hands. "...No."

"It was a joke, relax", she sighed, gently patting his arm as she too looked away. "I know you like someone, I heard you and Lucas talk about it."

Swallowing hard, the boy tried to ignore his quickening heartbeat. "You did?"

"Yeah...", Max nodded, squirming due to the uncomfortable feeling settling onto the pit of her stomach. "You should tell her."

"You really think so?", Dustin asked slowly, shivering a little due to the sudden cold wind. "She wouldn't, I don't know, laugh at me?"

"Why would you like someone who would do that?", she asked, eyebrows furrowed while peering at his serious face again. "If she's a _bitch_ \--."

"No", he let out a tense chuckle, shaking his head. "She's not."

"Then tell her", Max pressed. "What's the worst thing that could happen? Her not feeling the same way? Then you'll just move on, find someone better."

Fiddling with his fingers, Dustin glanced at her briefly. She was staring at the house, her hair tussled by the gentle but cold wind.

"I have never had that", she said suddenly, startling him. "Mutual feelings."

"Seriously? But why?"

The girl shrugged a little. "Never liked them back, I guess."

"Oh", he got out, turning his gaze back onto his hands. 

"Let's get inside, yeah?", Max sighed as she fully stood up, patting his arm again before reaching out for his hand. "Ahh", she got out, pulling away like the brief touch they shared had burned her. 

"What?", Dustin asked fast.

"I probably shouldn't do that", she explained, "with you liking someone and all."

She then started to head towards the door and Dustin took a deep breath, bracing himself for what he was about to say. 

"Max."

"Yeah?", she said over her shoulder.

"You can hold my hand."

Max turned around and stared at the back that was towards her. "...Huh?"

Rubbing at his face, Dustin beat himself inwardly. 

Why on earth did he say that? He sounded like an a-grade jackass. He was glad that he hadn't asked if she felt like a bitch, because with her temper he would probably be dead already.

"What about the other girl?", Max broke the silence that had fell over them, her voice softer than usually. "You're just going to go around, holding everyone's hands?", she said, letting out a confused chuckle.

"There's no other girl", Dustin sighed, finally turning around. 

She stared at him and he could see how wide her eyes were, under the soft shine of the christmas lights that covered the railings.

"It's just me and you", he continued, feeling more nervous than he had ever felt before. 

"Me?", Max breathed out, frozen on her place. "You were... You were talking about me?"

Dustin nodded, waiting for her to say something. "So, are you going to laugh at me or...?"

"Amazing?", she blurted out the word. "The...the prettiest girl you've seen? _Me?_ "

"W-what?", he got out in shock, blushing furiously. "You still remember?"

"Of course I do!", Max exclaimed. "And I thought it was some girl at school, that she was some bitch because of the things you said--!"

"No, no, no", Dustin came closer to her, wondering what he should do. "Why...why are you mad at me?", he got out.

"Why wouldn't I like you!?"

"Huh?", he stopped a few feet away from her, eyebrows high on his forehead.

"You're sweet, kind, funny...", Max listed fast, sounding angry and hurt at the same time. "For fuck's sake - I can't even keep my hands away from you, or your curly hair! Do you know how hard it is to find new toys for every math class, just to hide them in your hair? Because I do, and I continue doing that because it makes you smile!"

Dustin grinned at her widely, shaking his head. "Why are you mad at me?", he repeated, this time with an amused chuckle, staring at her in wonder. 

Max furrowed her eyebrows, before she turned her gaze away. "I don't know", she muttered.

"I'm so happy." His soft chuckles caused her to look at him again, while he covered his face in embarrassment. "So happy..."

"I'm sorry", Max blurted out suddenly. "For kissing him, for not telling you how I feel..."

Dustin lowered his hands to see her, shaking his head. "Don't."

She didn't look happy. 

"I just", he shrugged a little, casting his gaze away from her blue eyes. "You don't need to apologize for something like that, it's cool..."

"Me kissing other people is 'cool'?", Max asked slowly. "I'm sorry, but even I can admit that the idea of your mysterious crush was slowly killing me."

Heart skipping a beat, Dustin faced her again. 

"Yes, I was jealous", she stated bluntly. "You're the first guy that I felt was worth the trouble."

"...Trouble?"

"You know... Liking you, getting attached", she mumbled, staring at her shoes. "I'm not an easy one either, so it's probably harder for you than for me. And I'm sorry about that."

"Could I, I don't know, hug you? That's not hard, right?", Dustin blurted out. "And when this is over, when El's home and everything's back to normal... I could take you to movies, for pizza - something like that. Anything you'd like."

It took a few seconds for Max to break into a wide smile. "Yeah, that sounds... Nice", she admitted slowly. 

"So", he chuckled, opening his arms a little. And she simply walked into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him. He hugged her back tight, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment to the fullest.

"Thanks for liking me", she mumbled after a while. "I just--... Thanks."

"You're such a silly little thing, Carrots", he chuckled, gaining a soft hit to his back. "Ow... But yeah, thanks for liking me back. I appreciate it." 

"You're welcome", Max sniggered.

"Now can we please go back inside?", Dustin begged softly, smiling widely as he felt how she shook a little due to her own laughter.

"Such a whiny baby...", she muttered, giving him a one last squeeze before beginning to pull away.

"There's no going back now, Carrots, you and your toy dinosaurs chose me. _OW!_ Stop hitting me!" 

"It's a reflex, can't help it."

"Is that right?"

"...Possibly?"

"Could you change that into hugs? They're a lot nicer, you know", he suggested as they walked to the doors. "I'm too soft to be used as a punching bag."

Max glanced at him, before opening the door, her eyes twinkling as she smiled. "Maybe." 

 

El woke up from her curled up position on the couch, glancing around without moving even a muscle.

Miranda, Five, and Three stood in the kitchen and all she could hear were whispers.

Slowly she sat up, placing her feet onto the floor, and pushed herself off the couch before making her way into the kitchen. She glanced at everyone as they stopped talking and turned to look at her.

"Did you sleep enough?", Miranda asked softly, offering her a tiny smile.

Nodding her head, El crossed her arms over her chest. It was cold immediately without the warmth of the blanket.

"We need to leave", Five said, breaking their fragile peace. He went over to his sister and took a hold of her hand, before he begun pulling her towards the door. "Papa will leave too. Then... It will be hard, understand? To find him", he explained as he pushed the stolen coat into the girl's hands.

She nodded, putting the coat on and zipping it up, as he placed the beanie on her head. Three offered her the gloves she had wore earlier, before both she and Five put on their outer clothes too.

"Okay, I think I have everything...", Miranda mumbled as she walked over, rummaging through her bag. She then glanced at El and soon run into the living room, only to return with the blanket she had slept with. "It's cold in the car", she explained as she handed it over. 

 

Five and Three settled into the backseat, while El sat in the front. Miranda had been right - the car was cold and the blanket came in handy. 

"My bag", Miranda said softly after a while. "It's by your feet. There's some breakfast for you, if you want. Some chocolate, too. It's supposed to help you gain energy - the military uses it a lot."

Slowly nodding, El tried to keep her eyes open. Now that Five had loosened his hold of her, she noticed just how tired she was. Her muscles were all sore from having been moved against her will, whole body now protesting against the smallest of movements.

"Just sleep, it's alright", the woman whispered. "I'll wake you up."

 

_El screamed for help, for anything - for anyone to hear her. Dropping her face to her hands, she wished that it would all stop. That it would stop hurting._

_That was before it changed, the cold grayness from around her._

_Soon she was surrounded by the familiarity of the blanket fort and saw a boy sleeping on the couch, the soft light making his hair look browner than it truly was._

_Her legs wouldn't carry her._

_She crawled over to him, painfully slow, trying to scream for his name without getting a word out. But he kept sleeping, his hand hanging down and touching the floor, face looking as peaceful as ever._

_With the last bit of energy she could muster, El took a hold of his hand and grasped onto it like her life depended on it._

_"M--", she got out, squeezing the warm hand as she choked onto air. "M-M--."_

_His eyes fluttered open, the brown locking with her teary ones._

_"El", he breathed out, stumbling down onto the floor to get to her. "El, I missed you so much", he hurried, pulling her up on her knees._

_She leaned against him, her whole body weighting her down. "M--", she forced out, trembling as she tried to bring up a hand to touch his face._

_"It's me, I'm here", he hushed her gently, hugging her closer. "You're home, El, it's alright..."_

_Shaking her head, she dropped her hand down._

_"You can talk to me, tell me what's wrong", he said, softly pleading her._

_"M-M-Mike", she choked out, taking a deep breath as she stared at him. "C-c-coming..."_

_"What's coming, El?", he hurried her, swallowing his tears. "Tell me, what's coming?"_

_"Me", she breathed out. "H-h-home."_

 

Mike jolted awake in the dim-lit living room, eyes immediately darting to the person walking towards the mud room. He got up, pushing a blanket off of him, tiptoeing past his sisters and friends. 

"Where are you going?", he whispered, careful not to wake anyone else.

Jim turned around and looked down at him, before he took his coat. "The station."

Eyebrows furrowing, the teen glanced towards the light and soft chatter that came from the dining room. "What's the plan?", he asked then, turning back to the man. "What did you decide?"

"You make it sound like we negotiated about something", Jim let out a low chuckle, his voice raspy. "We informed your parents of what's been going on, of what we know." 

Callahan and Powell walked out of the dining room too, coming to them. 

"You ready, chief?"

Jim simply nodded, grabbing a bag from the bench by the door.

Mike eyed the bag, eyebrows furrowing, before turning back to the man. "You're going there, to Indianapolis?", he asked, following the men to the door.

"Michael", his mother's voice came from behind, stern but low at the same time. "Let them go."

But he stuffed on his shoes in a hurry and rushed out of the door. "Take me with you!"

Jim threw the bag onto the backseat before returning to him, while the two other officers got inside another car. "We're playing against time", the man murmured, placing a hand onto his shoulder. "We, and the officers in Indianapolis, we're trying to get El back."

"What about us?", Mike huffed.

"You're the ones who'll save the town", Jim said with a small smirk, and with a gentle pat to the teen's shoulder walked back to his car. "Your parents know what you'll need to do."

Watching the two cars drive away, along the quiet street as far as he could see, Mike felt an arm wrapping around his shoulders. 

"This will be a busy day", Karen whispered.

Ted came to his wife and son, taking a deep breath of the crispy morning air. "This has been a long and busy weekend."

"It ends soon", Mike got out, staring at the point where he had last seen the cars. "I feel it in the air."

"I do too", his mother nodded, pulling him closer to her side. 

 

The breakfast was a quiet gathering in the kitchen, everyone eating whatever they managed to force down their throats. 

Lucas glanced at Will, who sat by his side with an empty plate, frowning at the sight. "You need energy", he pointed out, grabbing a toast and buttering it. He then dropped it onto the boy's plate.

"Yeah", Will said slowly, nodding in defeat. "But I don't feel hungry."

Leaning a little closer, his friend eyed him in worry. "You need to eat, otherwise you can't use your powers", he whispered. "I know you want to help, but you can't if you pass out."

The boy picked up the piece of bread slowly, but rested one of it's sides on the plate instead of taking a bite. "She won't answer me", he said then, voicing out his thoughts. "I don't know what to do..."

Mike knocked his almost empty glass of juice onto the table, causing everyone to turn to look at his way. "Sorry", he muttered, picking up the glass from the mess.

"It's fine, here", Joyce said fast, offering the teen a few paper towels. 

He took them with a shaky hand, pressing them onto the spot. "I-I remember my dream now", he got out, his voice thin, "from last night."

Will shot his head up from across the table, tensing up. "What--? What was it about?", he asked fast. 

Lucas took a hold of the boy's hand under the table, giving it a squeeze as if a sign to calm down, while he too stared at their friend. As did everyone in the room. 

"It's stupid, it's just a dream...", Mike trailed off, his eyebrows furrowing as he stared at the dampening paper.

"No, tell us", his friend pressed. "It was about El, wasn't it?"

"Will, honey", Joyce whispered fast. "Don't force Mike. He does not need to tell any of us."

"Mom, no, you don't understand", Will shook his head, glancing around before looking at his friend again. "If it's about El, it's not necessarily just a dream. Please, just... Was she alright?"

"I-I think."

"What did she say?"

"Um, she... She woke me up", Mike said slowly, turning his gaze away. "We were in my basement. S-she cried and tried to tell me something, but it was like she couldn't speak--."

"What did she say?", Nancy interrupted him gently, glancing at Will before focusing back on her brother. "The words, what did she say?"

"Home", he said, voice breaking as he spoke. "She said she was coming home."

"It wasn't just a dream", Will shook his head, staring at his friend. "She's coming home, she wanted to tell you she's coming home--."

"But shouldn't she be happy about it?", Dustin interrupted him, frowning at his friends. "Why was she crying, then..?"

"What if she's not coming alone?", Jonathan asked, his voice raspy. His black coffee looked even darker than normally. "What if he's taking her to the lab, the man who took her?"

The room filled with thick silence as everyone thought about the things looming in the basement of the laboratory. Well, except for the youngest in the room. Holly kept poking at her breakfast, while Isaac slept in his mother's arms. 

With her chair squeaking against the floor as she pushed it back, Joyce stood up. "W-we need to hurry."

"Kids, up", Samuel's low voice boomed in the room, causing everyone to scramble from their seats. "We don't have much time."

"We're coming, too?", Lucas asked fast, glancing at his friends who looked just as shocked as he felt. "You're not leaving us behind?"

"There's safety in numbers", his father told him, before he glanced at the clock. "Besides you will find a way in, whether it's with us or on your own", he added slowly, while trying to estimate the time they had. "Thirty minutes."

Calvin stood up, giving his wife's shoulder a squeeze. "We'll take the cars, as planned before, and meet before the gates as soon as we can."

 

"Answer me", Joyce muttered, staring at the phone.

_"Chief Hopper."_

"Thank god, Jim!", she breathed out. "Listen to me, you can't leave--."

 _"We talked about this, honey"_ , Jim sighed.

"No, listen! She's coming here, we know she is!"

 _"What? How do you know? Did Will speak with her?"_ , he asked fast. 

"Mike saw a dream of her, last night. She said she was coming home, and...and I know it sounds crazy, but you have to trust us", she pleaded, before waiting for him to say something.

 _"Callahan, Powell!"_ , he shouted off the phone. _"Joyce? Follow the plan, alright? We'll meet you there."_

"I love you", Joyce whispered, closing her eyes as she leaned against the wall.

 _"I love you, too"_ , Jim murmured.

 

Will was lifting up a canister to the trunk, when he felt it - El.

Closing his eyes he stopped to his place, taking a ragged breath as his heart fluttered with newfound hope. _El? Where are you?_

 _Will?_ , her voice filled his head, along with her panic and misery. _The lab, soon._

 _We're coming there, wait for us_ , he pleaded, leaning onto the trunk for support as he squeezed his eyes tighter shut. The connection between them felt weak, like a thin string instead of a secure rope. _It's dangerous._

And as soon as he had felt her presence in the first place, she was gone. He let out the breath he had been holding in, covering his face as he tried to hold in the tears that threatened to emerge.

"Will, honey, are you okay?", his mother's voice reached his ears, before she came to gently grasp his shoulders.

"Was it El?", Nancy asked as she ran to them.

"She reached out to me", Will got out, before he hurried to the car and to his supercom. He pressed the button in a hurry, at the same time that the three gathered around him. "They're almost at the lab!", he said, closing his eyes. "They're almost at the lab, over!" 

"Let's go", Jonathan murmured, slamming the trunk closed.

 

_"They're almost at the lab, over!"_

"Dad, we need to hurry!", Dustin raised his voice from the backseat, lifting up his supercom. "We're on our way, over!"

"Five minutes", Calvin told them, looking briefly at the two from the rear mirror. 

Max stared at the road, leaning in as much as her seatbelt let her, chewing her lip. 

"She'll be alright", Dustin told her, after noticing the worried look on her face.

The girl nodded. "I just hope we can do this."

"Yeah", he sighed. "Me too."

 

"How much longer?", Mike asked impatiently, squeezing his supercom.

"Just around the corner", Ted said from behind the wheel, his voice keeping its calmness.

"We need to be careful", Samuel pointed out, his voice low and unsure. "From what I understand, from what Jim and Joyce knew about what there is - what we're doing is dangerous."

"No!", Lucas shouted from behind his father, startling his friend and the two men. "Just stop with the dangerous part, we know what's going on! We fought the demogorgon when we were twelve, just--!", he trailed off weakly, shaking his head in frustration. 

"We need to do this", Mike got out, finishing the sentence for his friend.

"I know", Samuel raised his voice a little in return, while still keeping it gentle.

Clearing his throat, Ted met his son's eyes through the mirror. "Keep your head clear."

Mike nodded at him slowly, scrunching his nose a little. "Yeah, dad... We will."

 

They walked in the between of the lumps, taking slow and cautious steps in order to not touch anything, while looking around the hall that El had destroyed over two years ago.

The tank she had once used was now occupied by something dark and evil, the vines pulsating around its curled up form. But the eggs... there were too many of them. 

Miranda was by her side, looking around cautiously, while Five and Three walked a good ten feet ahead of them. 

And El tried to keep her breathing steady as panic crawled into her body and mind. Ranking her hands through her hair, the pace of her heart quickening with its every beat, she tried her best not to cry and give up. 

She had opened the gate to the other dimension, to the twisted and sick copy of the world they lived in, which now tried to swallow the whole room. She was the one to blame - even though she hadn't done it on purpose, she still had started the whole mess they were now in.

Without her, everyone would have been safe for the last years.

She was the one to blame.

 

There was a car they didn't recognize, parked right in front of the gates.

"It must be theirs", Jonathan swallowed. "We're late."

"No. We're going in", Jim stated, grabbing the two large canisters from the back of Joyce's car, while Callahan and Powell did the same with the ones from the two other cars. "Someone has to stop this madness."

"I'm going, too", Joyce pressed.

"I know by now that I can't stop you", the man sighed, before he glanced around the rest that had gathered by the gates. "I can't stop anyone of you, there's no time for that."

"I'll watch over the children", Samuel told him, glancing at the man from the gun he was loading. 

"But you can't stop them from going, either", Jim let out a dry laugh, shaking his head before he turned around and begun heading towards the doors.

"Never in my life I thought that burning down a building would be something I had to do", Callahan sighed before walking after the chief, Powell not far behind.

Samuel glanced at the rest, gaining nods from Ted and Calvin, while Joyce turned to the teens with worry in her eyes.

 

"You think you made a mistake", Pearl spoke up softly, causing the other woman to turn around. She herself was holding her son, cradling him where she sat on the couch. "Letting your son and daughter go, along with your husband."

"I-I...", Karen whispered, shaking her head. She held onto Holly a little better, guiding the girl's head onto her shoulder. "I don't know."

"Samuel has always felt the need to meddle into everything, if it means saving lives while risking his own", Pearl told her with a sad smile. "I don't like Lucas going either, but Samuel will keep them safe. He always keeps everyone safe."

"I really hope so, Pearl, I really do..."

"Trust them a little", Edith said as she walked into the room, taking a seat from the other couch.

"I just want them back safe, all of them", Karen sighed. 

"Without them, no one will be safe", Edith pointed out sadly, turning her gaze to the window. "It's something they need to do."

 

"What a pleasant surprise", the familiar voice carried itself to them.

Miranda took a hold of El's hand, clasping onto it while they looked around the hall. It was too dark to see, the flickering lights causing everything to look like they were on motion. 

"Brenner", Miranda called, her voice thin. "You've crossed the line."

"Crossed the line?", the man said from their side, emerging from the shadows just as they turned to him. "What is the line, Miranda?", he asked, sounding curious.

"The line between science and madness", the woman said, guiding El slightly behind her. The girl took a hold of her arm, tensing up as she watched the man.

Taking slow steps, Brenner shortened their distance a little. He stopped by the tank, showing the deformed side of his face while glancing inside. 

"Science is madness", he said slowly. "We want to possess things that shouldn't exist, things that we sometimes have to create out of thin air." 

"Is this your new project?", Miranda asked, glancing around the room. "Now that there are no children to torment on, you do this? Haven't you done enough, caused enough havoc--."

"You must not have realized something", the man said, turning to face her again. He offered her a lopsided smile, before looking behind her back. "The children indeed are here, Miranda. They have returned to me."

"Not for you", Five spoke out, walking around Miranda and El. He stopped in front of the man, his dark eyes fixated on him. "Our father. We want to find him."

"Your father?", Brenner questioned slowly, glancing at the girl behind him.

"Yes", the young man nodded. "Tell us. Where is he?"

"My dear boy... He's long gone. There's nothing you can do about it."

El's eyebrows furrowed, while her hold of Miranda's arm tightened. 

"You killed him", Five said, narrowing his eyes at the man.

"Of course not", Brenner chuckled, watching him with a gentle smile on his face. "His death had nothing to do with me. I didn't decide it."

Hissing at the man, Five glanced at the gun that peeked from his side. He once again mirrored the smile he saw, that nowadays tugged only one side of the man's mouth. 

"You can't do that, child", Brenner told him calmly.

"Point it at your head", Five growled the words out.

Taking the gun to his hand from it's holster Brenner lifted it up, slowly bringing it to his temple.

"Pull the trigger."

El closed her eyes, not wanting to see it ever again. But she didn't hear the shot. When Miranda's arms tensed under her grasp she opened her eyes to see Brenner pointing the gun at Five instead.

"No", Miranda gasped. 

"These children are clearly yours, Miranda, but I'm not alone either", Brenner drawled out. "Ten."

The boy left the shadows, his bare feet making no sound as he walked over to the man. His pale eyes watched curiously at the people in the hall, the flashes of lights causing them to look almost white.

 

"I hope we're not too late", Jim murmured, roughly dropping the canisters on the floor to twist the rod on the thick steel door.

Callahan and Powell carried theirs onto the control room, the man following them soon after, all of them stopping by the windows.

Jim's gaze locked onto his daughter, who was hiding behind a woman. "We can sneak in", he murmured. "Pour these over... We can do that."

"You're sure, chief?", Powell confirmed, casting a glance at his way.

"Yes", Jim nodded. "Then we'll just need to get them out."

The man nodded slowly, looking around the hall again. "Alright."

Callahan opened the door to the landing slowly, careful not to make a sound. It was so dark that they barely even saw the stairs.

 

"I need to see it", Joyce spoke up suddenly, from where they stood outside the control room. "I need to be there...", she said, before she quickly twisted the rod and disappeared into the darkness behind the door.

Will followed his mother, and Jonathan could do nothing but rush after him. It didn't take the rest of the teens and Nancy long to reach the door too, along with the fathers, even though they knew they wouldn't like what they saw on the other side of it.

"My baby", Joyce's whisper reached their ears as soon as they all gathered at the window.

Mike took a deep breath, watching El intently. She looked so small, hiding behind someone else.

"What are they talking about?", Samuel asked in a low voice, resting his hands on his son's shoulders.

 _We're here, El_ , Will pushed the thought over to her, breaking into a watery smile when he felt the warmth of her wrapping around his mind. 

_"Your father?"_ , a voice came from the speaker, along with a loud rattle, startling them.

"T-that's Brenner", Joyce said fast.

"El wants us to hear, too", Mike explained, going closer to the glass. 

The speaker rattled again, before another voice spoke out. _"Yes. Tell us. Where is he?"_

_"My dear boy... He's long gone. There's nothing you can do about it."_

_"You killed him."_

_"Of course not"_ , they heard Brenner chuckle, the voice sending shivers along their spines. _"His death has nothing to do with me. I didn't decide it."_

Their gazes moved on to the younger man, waiting for what he would do. 

_"You can't do that, child"_ , Brenner's voice came from the speaker again.

 _"Point it at your head"_ , the words were growled out and soon they watched Brenner take a gun to his hand and slowly lift it up, resting the pipe against his temple. 

_"Pull the trigger."_

No one really knew what it was that made them froze to their places, waiting to see what would happen. Because they hadn't seen anything like that before. 

But the second the gun turned towards the other man their eyes widened. 

_"No"_ , a woman's voice gasped suddenly.

_"These children are clearly yours, Miranda, but I'm not alone either. Ten."_

They saw a boy make his way out of the shadows, like he appeared out of thin air, walking to the man that had called for him.

.

"Why are you doing this?", Miranda pressed, taking in a shaky breath. "You have failed already, just give up this dream of yours and wake up!" 

"Can't you see what I've created?", Brenner drawled out, resting a hand onto the boy's shoulder who stood by him. "Others are building chemical weapons, have done so since the past decades, but this... This means, that we will not loose more human lives in wars. Don't you understand it?" 

She shook her head, pushing El behind her back fully. "You are a madman, Brenner." 

"Wait till you see them, Miranda", he spoke out slowly, watching her with a slight smile. "They're beautiful." 

"I'm not waiting for that", the woman spat. She brought up her gun, aiming it at the man. 

The sound of the shot echoed in the hall.

"N-n-n", El got out, the word clinging to her throat as she dropped onto the floor on her knees. 

She heard the shouts and screams coming from a distance, not quite reaching her but almost. 

It was all a blur. 


	45. The time has come to pay our share

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Thank you for your comments and kudos once again!

**The time has come to pay our share**

 

The sound of the gunshot froze the whole hall, including the control room upstairs. 

But only for a few seconds. 

Rushing as close to the window as they could, everyone had their eyes focused on El's stagnant figure as, at first, nothing happened.

When they saw her slump down to the floor, Mike wasn't sure if he shouted or screamed. He wasn't sure if he cried, or if his heart stopped beating - because it could have.

He wasn't sure if it was real or a nightmare, like the one he had seen a couple of hours ago, even though the pain he felt was ten times worse than before.

And even though he was so close to her, he could do nothing but watch. 

But when he realized she collapsed due to the weight of the woman she held, he suddenly felt his father's tight grip on his shoulder and the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Stay here!", Samuel pressed before he opened the steel door, leaving the room with the gun in his hands.

"W-what? Wait!", Joyce got out in shock, following him to the landing.

Mike rushed out and to the railing, taking a tight hold of the top bar as his head kept spinning. He watched El, eyes clued onto her huddled over form. "EL!", he rasped out.

The flickering lights made everything look like a badly made cartoon, with only one picture per second rate. But he saw how bad her hands shook, and how dark they were because of the blood that covered them.

"Will!", Joyce called, startling everyone and causing them to turn their heads just in time to see the boy rush down the stairs. 

Jonathan grabbed the gun from his mother's hand, before he and Nancy followed his brother without a word.

Lucas tried to go too, but Dustin pulled him back. "No, let me go--!", he huffed, trying to pry the hands on his coat away. 

"You can't help!", the boy told him, dragging him over to the railing next to Mike and Max.

"I need to--!"

"You don't!", Dustin pressed angrily, before letting go of the jacket he held. "You can't do anything, so don't rush in there!"

"Calm down", Calvin murmured to his son.

Tears filling his eyes, Lucas turned away from his friend and faced the hall.

Joyce took a deep breath, her eyes wide as she tried to follow her sons through the dark hall with her gaze, before she turned to watch her daughter. She could only hope that their plan worked.

There was too much to loose if it didn't.

 

El choked on a sob, pressing her trembling hands over the gushing wound. Her eyes travelled to the ones that watched her, breath hitching to her throat as she tried to get air in at the same pace that her heart beat. 

"I-it's okay", Miranda got out, offering a small and unsteady smile, while her eyebrows were knit together in a pained expression.

El whimpered while shaking her head furiously, glancing down at the blood that didn't seem to stop. She balled up the shirt covering the wound, pressing onto it, but it wasn't enough.

"Just...get out", the woman whispered, closing her eyes for a few seconds before focusing them back on the girl's face. She pushed away the small hands, replacing them with a hand of her own. "Go, please..."

Five stared at them before he turned back around, grinding his teeth as his furious gaze fixed onto Brenner. Watching the man, Three briefly glanced at Ten as she walked over to her friend's side.

The boy smirked as he watched Five and Three, before his head turned to the side as he heard the nearing footsteps.

"Your time is up, Brenner", Jim drawled out, he and the two other officers walking towards them with their guns pointed at the man. "Just stop this. I'd rather lock you up, than kill you." 

"Death is an easy way out for men like you", Samuel continued, taking slow steps as he came to stand by Miranda. He glanced down at her, at the wound on her stomach and her pale face. "Press the wound", he murmured, before focusing back to the white haired man.

Someone dropped to the ground next to El, wrapping their arms around her. She didn't even need to hear his voice to know who it was - she felt him.

Letting Will help her to stand up, she leaned against him as she grasped onto his arm. Her hands were slick from blood, and they colored his light brown jacket darker from where she touched it.

Jonathan and Nancy came to stand by their side, pointing their guns at the man who watched them in return and whose face was as emotionless as ever. 

"Even if you killed me, there's not much you can do." Brenner said, his gaze slowly moving along the new faces of the people. His gun was pointed towards Five again, who stared at him with narrowed eyes. 

"Put your gun down, now", Jim growled. "You won't hurt anyone else in here, you hear me?"

"Miranda never knew her place", the man drawled out, turning to look at El. "You are so much like her in that sense, Eleven."

Will held onto her tighter as her fingers dug onto his arm. The tingling under his skin almost burned his insides, spreading from his head to the tips of his fingers and all the way to his toes.

"N-no", El let out a cry, the word coming out raspy.

Slowly, Five turned around to see her. He briefly glanced at Will, their eyes meeting, before he focused on her again. 

She had closed him out.

"She deserved it", Brenner stated coldly.

"No", the girl repeated, shaking her head. She opened her mouth a few times, tears prickling in her eyes. _"NO!"_

The force of El's scream caused the walls to crack, and the earlier flickering lights to turn on bright for a few seconds. 

"You did a stupid thing, bringing her here, Five", Brenner said, his voice loud and clear. "You got her back after all these years, just like you wanted, and you brought her here. You should have run."

"No", Five spat as he turned around. "Not without our father!", he growled at his face.

Everyone in the hall heard him. 

Jonathan glanced at Will, whose eyes were wide with shock. El fumbled with his jacket sleeve a little, the feel of the material under the palm of her hand reassuring, while he kept holding her upright.

 _Is it true?_ , Wil asked her, causing the hand that held onto his arm tighten its hold.

_Yes._

"He made you for me", Brenner said slowly. "I was there for you, helped you come this far. Without me you wouldn't even exist", he added with a squeeze to Ten's shoulder, gaze moving along his experiments, "don't you understand? You owe your lives to me." 

"We owe you nothing", Three said, her voice calm but venomous. She walked towards the man, lifting up her hands as something bright begun pouring out of her skin. "Nothing", she spat.

Just as she was about to bring her hands to touch the man, Ten stepped in the between of them. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her back roughly, keeping his hold even when she tried to shrug him away.

Snarling, Three flashed out on flames, covering the two with the light that came off of her. 

Blue fire. 

Will pulled El back with him as the flames heated up the air around them, all of them squinting at the sudden brightness.

She still remembered the pain, that Three had caused with only a touch to her arm. She had screamed, cried for a few days afterwards as the pain wouldn't leave her, wishing that it would end.

But this time it didn't do anything. The fire licked its way around the two, causing no harm to either one of them.

After a while the flames died out, leaving Three just as confused as El and to push the teen before her away. Brenner placed his hands back onto Ten's shoulders, as the boy came to stand before him. 

"He's immune", Callahan murmured before thinking, swallowing hard afterwards as he glanced at everyone.

"For a police, you men are not hopeless", Brenner glanced at him with his good eye. 

Wiping away the now almost dried out tears, El let go of Will's arm and straightened her own. 

The lights turned fully back on, brighter than before, while the air around them thickened. Her gaze locked with the almost white eyes that stared at her past the others in the between of them. 

The sudden loud sound startled them, just as it had before, bouncing of the walls and echoing in the large space.

Ten kept his eyes locked with hers until the last second. He dropped to the floor with a thud, at the same time that Miranda winced and laid back down.

"You don't need a shield", she got out, one hand pressing onto her wound while the other kept its grip around her pistol. "At least", she hissed, closing her eyes, "you don't deserve one."

"Good", Five growled, his gaze moving away from the body on the floor to the older man. "The gun, at you."

Brenner's hand shook slightly as he obeyed, the moment like a replay from before, eyes locked with the dark ones staring back at him.

"No, don't--!"

But Jim's hurried words got interrupted by a loud crack.

All the eyes in the room turned to the tank, only a mere second before the glass cracked again. The thing inside it moved around restlessly, until something long stretched out from the top.

"You came just in time to see them", Brenner spoke out, watching the shocked expressions with a small smile on his face. "Miranda, too. They're just as beautiful as the ones we have seen before."

"Fuck you", the woman hissed through her teeth, propped up enough to see him.

Another long thing made its way out of the tank, reaching far up to the ceiling before it dropped to the floor, smashing one of the eggs. 

They were legs, El just knew, and there probably were more than just two.

"G-go!", she raised her voice, turning to Jim with pleading eyes. 

"Honey", he rasped out. He took a step closer to her and Will, for a brief second forgetting everything and everyone else around them. "We won't leave you."

"Miranda", she pleaded, gently shrugging Will's hold off of her, pointing at the woman on the floor. "Help, p-please..."

Samuel glanced around before he carefully scooped up the small woman. "We all need to go", he said then, casting a glance at the tank. "It's not safe."

"We need to burn them", Jim reminded him. "I'll do it, you can--."

"Go!", El screamed, startling everyone as she let out a sob. "P-please..."

Five turned around, glancing at her before looking at everyone else. "Go", he pressed.

Jim shook his head, trembling under the command, while Callahan and Powell already begun walking away. Samuel went ahead, carrying Miranda in his arms, worriedly glancing back at the teens.

"No!", Jonathan got out as he too begun walking backwards, eyes on his brother and sister.

"El", Nancy said in disbelief, taking slow steps away from the two. "El and Will, come, please...", she pleaded softly, gaze moving between the two as she saw that they weren't moving. 

Turning to the boy by her side, El breathed out. She shook her head at him, eyes locked with the gentle brown ones. 

"No, Will", she whispered, her voice hoarse. "You have to go."

"I'm not leaving you", he swallowed, taking a hold of her hand. "I-I can't."

Her eyes were red, cheeks tear tracked, but she still managed to offer him a small smile. It was an apology, he could tell, but it made him angry above anything else.

"I'm not leaving my children", Jim growled out, causing their heads to simultaneously turn to him, as he took a few forced steps backwards. "You can't force me to leave!"

"Eleven is not yours", Five said slowly, watching the man as he narrowed his eyes. "Leave."

Shutting his eyes Jim let out a roar, trying to endure the tightness in his brain. But he couldn't handle it for much longer, he knew he couldn't. 

"Dad."

The soft whisper caused Jim to open his eyes. His gaze locked with El's, before he glanced at Will who stood by her side.

"Please", she whispered.

He was about to answer, to tell her that he would never leave the two of them behind, but the pressure in his head got worse due to the point that he couldn't take it. 

Jim begun walking away, his back turned towards them, eyes burning with unshed tears.

"Close the gate!", he rasped out, keeping his gaze on the floor as his feet kept him walking forward. "If you can... close the gate!"

El nodded at his words, even though she knew he couldn't see it, closing her eyes and trying to channel the tingling under her skin. 

Will laced their fingers, both of them gripping onto each other as tight as they could.

"We know you can do it, we trust you!", Jim's voice travelled from further away, bringing tears into both of their eyes. 

She then felt them, all of their beating hearts in the large hall. But it wasn't all. 

The lumps of the monsters too, the sickening feeling of destruction and darkness that surrounded them. She felt the thing that loomed inside the tank, gathering strength from the organism that had spread itself across the hall. 

"The world out there wont stop existing", Brenner raised his voice over the crackling in the air and the crumbling sounds of the walls around them. "You weren't the first one to open the gate, Eleven. It will wait for someone else to come and do it again."

Five let out a growl as he held the man on his place, before turning around to see the audience they had on the second floor landing. 

Men, women, and children that were his sister's age. His eyes found the ones of Jim and he held his gaze for a few long seconds. The man watched him with an expression he couldn't understand.

"Do it", Three told him, coming to his side. 

Glancing behind at his sister, Five shook his head. 

He walked over to El instead, placing his cold hands on her warm cheeks before he leaned his forehead against hers.

"You are weak", Five said slowly, closing his eyes as he concentrated on her. "I will help."

Grasping onto Will's hand tighter, who had decided to stay by her side, El took a deep breath and braced herself for what was to come. 

Five entered her mind, his being mingling with hers. But it was different, gentle even, compared to the past days and the hazy memory of the times in the upside down. 

He was offering all of his strength over to her, instead of taking hers away, sending it through the connection he had build along their minds.

But what scared her the most wasn't him. 

As she grasped onto the feeling of the two worlds, that had collided into one in the room they stood in, she realized something she had hoped she never would.

She was stronger than ever before.

 

Dustin kept the door open for his father and Ted, as they together carried the now unconscious woman out. He then closed it and took a deep breath, before he returned to the place between Max and Mike. 

The girl immediately took a hold of his arm, scared eyes fixed on what they saw, and he looked at her for a few long seconds before he turned his gaze down to the hall too. He had never been more terrified in his life.

Mike on the other hand felt sick. 

The way Five now touched El made his blood boil in a way it had never done before, causing his knuckles to turn white as he held onto the railing harder. He glanced at the tank, then the eggs, wondering if the fire could take them out. If it would be enough.

The lights far up in the ceiling kept flickering as a few of them dropped, while the walls kept cracking and crumbling down with a loud rumble.

"She's caving the room in!", Lucas shouted, glancing back at his father. 

Jim held Joyce, who desperately tried to run away from him. "El's trying to close the gate!", he shouted over the noises, swallowing hard as he stared at their two children.

"Jim!", Joyce got out in shock, squirming in his arms as her gaze locked onto something. "Jim, the eggs--!"

He glanced around, along with everyone else, only to notice that she was right. Letting go of Joyce, he drew his gun and neared the railing, Callahan and Powell following his lead. 

Along with the rest.

"Do guns even work on then?", Samuel asked. He came to his side with his pistol aimed at one of the eggs, which had slowly begun to open.

"Hardly", Jonathan told him.

"If they're the same as the demogorgon", Nancy said slowly, her voice raised and tight, "it'll only slow them down."

"Good enough", Jim told them grimly, trying to swallow the tightness from his throat. "We don't want them close to the kids."

 

"I should thank you, Will", Brenner spoke up after a while.

The boy looked at his way, away from El, eyes burning as he shook his head slowly. "Don't", he said, voice wavering. 

"I should", the man smiled a little. "You were the key factor to my success on this project."

"Project?", Three asked Brenner, nearing his face as her eyebrows furrowed. "It's useless."

"You can't stop something that has already begun", the man said slowly, watching her intently as he spoke.

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the words, Will looked around. His breathing hitched as his eyes widened, staring at the slight movement several feet away from them.

"El", he gasped, grasping onto her hand tighter. She squeezed back as she tried to keep her concentration. "The eggs, they're hatching!"

She pressed her eyes tighter shut, fighting back the tears, as she felt stretched and compressed at the same time.

El let go of Will's hand, before she pushed both him and Five backwards with the force of her powers. She glanced at Will, her eyes bloodshot, before she turned to face the gate.

No matter how much she loved her life, she loved her family and friends even more. They deserved it more - the life she hadn't even known to dream of before.

But she wouldn't say goodbye, not this time. 

She couldn't do it again.

 

Mike watched El straighten her arm, the lights turning fully on once again, as he held his breath. 

He could see the way her hand shook as she took slow steps closer to the gate, nearing the darkness that begun immediately from the edge of the hole in the wall. He knew that she was crying, he just knew, and he wished that he didn't. 

But it was her scream what broke him, more than anything else.

He could hear the pain, the agony, the buildup anger - everything. It was the exact same sound as two years before, the same as behind their school that one time, forcing his eyes to close and his face to screw up in tears.

Dustin rested a hand on his shoulder, while Lucas held his arm and squeezed it tight. 

The sudden loud shots around them caused him to open his eyes, him and his friends huddling closer together, only to have his heart at his throat as he saw something crawl out of its egg. 

"EL, WILL!", Mike screamed over everything, over the gunfire and collapsing structures of the building. "EL, THEY'RE COMING!"

But it was like she didn't hear him at all.

They watched Will slowly turn, to look behind the two of them, before he backed up against El.

Mike glanced at Five who stood a little further away, while the older girl watched the tank and the movements of the thing inside. 

It was only seconds before the glass around it cracked again, this time shattering down to pieces.

"Shit!", Dustin shouted, jerking at the sight. "This won't be good!"

"When the hell did you think something good would happen!?", Lucas yelled from Mike's other side, wide eyes fixated on the long legs that now straightened themselves in the hall.

"When I saw that the gate was closing!"

"Thessalhydra", Mike murmured, his eyes widening. "It's the thessalhydra!"

 

The darkness in the room was so thick, that concentrating on it and separating it from their world wasn't hard. Pushing it out was. 

El couldn't move the vines or the eggs, no matter how hard she tried. Instead she concentrated on sealing shut the gate before them, wanting to make sure it would never bother anyone again.

She smelled the gas in the air, the scent filling her nostrils and making her head dizzy.

Five lashed out his strength into her mind suddenly, and she watched the dark world disappear bit by bit as it pulled itself back to where it had originally came from. 

"The things you could do together", Brenner said as she turned around, watching her proudly before glancing at Five. "I doubt you even realize how much potential you two have."

El glanced behind the man, before her gaze locked with his. 

He offered her a smile, and she took in the disfigured side of his face.

"It got you", she said then, taking a step closer to him. "The demogorgon."

Will's eyes widened as he glanced at her back, while trying to stay close enough to be of help. 

Those were the exact words he had used, both before the monster had taken him and afterwards in the hospital.

"It did, my child", Brenner nodded at her, watching her curiously. His body trembled a little as he stood on his place, being held there by Five who now had his attention on his sister.

"Not your child", El hissed at him.

"You will be my child until the very end, Eleven", he told her calmly. "You can't choose who you are. All the three of you, no matter how far you will go, you belong to me."

Right after he had finished his sentence, Three growled under her breath and pushed the man towards the now broken tank and the monster looming there.

It only took one step too far from her, for the whole hall to burst out in flames.

 

"N-no", Joyce sobbed, sliding down onto the landing as she watched the fire before them.

Jim closed his eyes, covering his face briefly with his hands, before he went over to the woman and helped her up.

"My babies..." She tried to pull away from him effortlessly, while he begun guiding her out of the hall. She choked on a sob as she tried to continue, screwing her eyes shut as she heard the screams.

"We...", Jim rasped out, the words sticking to his throat as he watched Samuel, Callahan, and Powell fight to get the teens out. "We need to go."

 

"E-El", Mike sobbed, trashing around in Nancy's arms as he tried to rush back to the landing. "T-they're there, don't you get it?", he shouted at her, pointing at the flames. "They're there!"

"Stop it", Nancy begged, pulling him along.

He took a hold of her hands and threw them away from him, but she grasped onto his jacket again. "Let me go--!"

 _"Stop it!"_ , she screamed at him, before taking a ragged breath as tears fell down her cheeks. "Just stop it, please, Mike..."

And he stopped to his place in the middle of the control room, staring out of the window in there. 

He watched the flames that almost reached the ceiling, while listening to the screams of the monsters that burned alive in the hall. 

But it weren't just the monsters that screamed.

He couldn't breath.


	46. Did you think I'd crumble?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. 12,000 HITS ALREADY! THANK YOU FOR KUDOS xx

**Did you think I'd crumble?**

 

Joyce collapsed onto the ground outside the building, crying her heart out as the cold air tried to freeze her tears.

She heard the sirens, saw the lights of an ambulance parked on the other side of the gates, but couldn't hear the wails she let out. Paramedics ran towards them, asking questions at a hurried pace, but they felt too far away to be of help.

Shuffling closer to her on the cold ground, Jonathan wrapped his mother into a tight hug. She dropped her face onto his shoulder, and he took a ragged breath as he felt her shake. 

"M-my babies...", Joyce sobbed, one hand pressed over her chest as the pain there was becoming too much to bear. The other clung onto her son's jacket, afraid to let go.

"Mom..."

Jim couldn't even look at their way. He covered his face with his hands, turning away but unable to leave them on their own. 

While Calvin went both to his son and Max, Samuel wrapped his own son into a tight hug as he stared at the building wide eyed.

Nancy pulled Mike back to her, who she had dragged outside against his will. He immediately begun trashing around in her hold, trying to push her away.

"L-let me go!", he cried. 

The arms around him only tightened, forcing him into a hug when all he wanted was to run back inside.

"No", she whispered in the between of her own sobs, keeping him in his place.

Mike eventually gave up. 

His hands weighted down by his sides as he stared at a fence, from over her shoulder, without really seeing it. The tears in his eyes prevented him from seeing anything, but it didn't matter.

"You can't go there", Nancy sobbed, rubbing his back with a hand. "You just can't, I-I'm so sorry..."

Mike looked down at the ground, letting her hug him. 

Nothing mattered anymore.

 

"--Chief?", Callahan asked again, nearing the man. 

Jim shook his head, staring at the doors of the building.

"The smoke is filling the front yard, we need to move."

Shaking his head again, the man closed his eyes tightly. He heard several sobs from around him, but Joyce's and Jonathan's were the closest.

"Chief", Powell said then, his voice gentle and low. "You need to go, all of you."

Someone coughed then, causing Jim to look around in daze. The smoke pushed itself out of a vent, the air around them having turned into a grey cloud.

He looked slowly down, before helping both Joyce and Jonathan up. 

"We...", Jim murmured, the words sticking to his throat as he slowly begun to guide the two towards the gates. "We should go." 

 

"I-I need to talk to her", Joyce got out, startling Jim with her rushed words. "That woman, I need to talk to her..."

Without questioning her, he walked them over to the ambulance in which Miranda had already been lifted in. 

One of the paramedics turned to them, while the other stayed by the woman's side.

"She has lost some blood, but we're already working on that", the man told them immediately, casting apologetic glances at their way. "We're taking her to the hospital. The bullet didn't go through."

"Is she... Is she conscious?", Joyce got out.

"Y-yes."

The thin voice caused her to rush forward, only to be stopped by the paramedic that stood by the open doors. "I'm sorry ma'm, but you can't go in."

"But I... I need to talk with her", she reasoned.

"You can talk after the surgery", the man told her calmly. "For now, that's the most important thing. If there's someone who would need to get checked up, we can take them with us. Otherwise we have to go."

Jim nodded at the man, pulling Joyce gently back to his side. "Can you ask someone call me, if something happens to her?", he murmured, forcing the words out. "We just need to ask her some questions."

The paramedic nodded, accepting the card Jim handed over.

"I didn't take her", Miranda said suddenly, her voice barely loud enough to be heard. "I-I tried to bring her home."

The doors closed soon after and the ambulance drove off, leaving the broken family behind.

 

Mike hadn't even realized that he had sat into a car, before they begun to drive away. 

Turning around on his seat, to look back at the lab and the other cars still there, he choked on a sob. 

"We'll go pick up your mother and Holly", Ted said slowly from behind the wheel, his voice strained.

Nancy let out a cry, informing her brother of her presence at the same time, causing Mike to slightly turn to look at her.

She had covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking along with her sobs.

Mike watched her in silence.

He didn't feel the tears, that still rolled down his cheeks. The pain in his chest had stopped a while ago, only leaving a dull and empty feeling behind.

Slowly he turned around and settled back onto his seat, resting his hands on his lap. After a while he moved them a little, testing if he still felt them. 

He did.

He wasn't sure what he should do with that knowledge.

 

_7th of November, 1983_

_Lucas and Dustin kept bickering as they walked ahead, deeper into the woods. Shaking his head every once in a while, Mike kept his gaze on the darkness that surrounded them._

_It was stupid and annoying, how much his friends could argue._

_Their flashlights showed them the way - the bright lights bouncing off the trees and bushes, while the shadows formed distorted images in their heads._

_"I don't think he's here", Lucas said after a while, sighing as he one-handedly adjusted his hood._

_"He could be, alright?", Mike said, trying to not let his frustration show. It wouldn't help anyone if he lost his patience. "Let's just walk a bit further--."_

_"WILL!", Dustin shouted suddenly, startling both of his friends._

_"Jesus--!", Lucas hissed, glancing at the boy._

_"WILL, WHERE ARE YOU?"_

_"WILL!"_

_Taking quick and sharp breaths, Eleven glanced around as she stopped running._

_She couldn't see anything, but she heard the voices._

_They didn't belong to papa, nor anyone of the men. These voices were nicer than the ones she had heard before._

_Softer._

_Stumbling over a tree trunk, her whole body shaking under the cold rain, she blindly kept going on._

_Her feet hurt, the ground and the cold slowly tiring them, but something in the back of her head told her to not give up just yet._

_Soon she headed towards the lights that shone in the darkness, flashing at her way from behind the trees._

_They called for her, the lights._

_She had never seen anything quite as mesmerizing._

_The snap of a branch startled the boys - causing them to turn towards the noise with all of their flashlights pointing at the small figure standing close by._

_"What the hell?", Lucas muttered._

_Mike wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl, but he saw the panic and furrowed eyebrows, heard the quickly paced breaths over the pouring rain._

_"A-are you okay?", he got out, while his heart kept beating fast due to the scare, swallowing hard afterwards. "What are you doing in here?"_

_"Are you lost?", Dustin asked._

_The wide eyes bounced from boy to another, unable to stop and focus onto just one._

_"Let's just go, guys", Lucas sighed, shaking his head. "He's probably just pulling a prank, or something..."_

_"What do you mean?", Mike asked, furrowing his eyebrows as he turned to look at his friend. "He looks scared! And just, I mean, look at his clothes, too", he added, the three of them turning back to the shivering figure._

_"Mike... We don't have time for this."_

_"We'll just make sure he gets out of the woods and home", Dustin shrugged. He then offered the stranger a smile, which he hoped was a friendly one._

_Mike took a few cautious steps forward - only to realize that he had been pointing the flashlight at the person's face, as he noticed how narrowed the eyes locked with his were._

_"Um, sorry", he mumbled, tilting the light down and swallowing nervously. "Do you, I don't know, want to come with us? Out of the woods?"_

_He then glanced down at the yellow shirt and thin legs, gaze stopping to the bare feet for a second longer, before he looked up again. Taking in the round eyes and small nose, but also the slightly parted lips, he frowned at the buzz cut._

_She clearly wasn't a boy._

_"Um", Mike got out, dropping his backpack onto the ground to take off his jacket. He knew it was almost soaked wet already, but it was better than nothing. Better than the shirt, which was the only thing she was wearing. "Put this on, okay?"_

_The girl glanced at the jacket, but didn't make a move towards him._

_She stood on her place, eyes wide and her whole being alert. She reminded him of a scared cat he had once found, one that had been afraid to come from under a car where it had hid itself._

_"Here", he muttered, slowly closing their distance before he draped the jacket around her shoulders. "Better, right?"_

_The girl simply stared at him and he stared back, waiting for her to say or do something._

_"So... we're just gonna take him home?", Lucas asked, sounding a little bit irritated. "Does he even want to go in the first place? Home?", he said the words slowly, as if he was talking to someone who had trouble understanding._

_The girl shook her head, fiddling with the jacket before grasping onto it a little._

_"Let's just go, okay? We'll take her over to my basement", Mike told his friends, beginning to guide the girl back to from where they had came and towards their bikes. "She's cold, and probably scared too."_

_"She?", Lucas snorted._

_"Y-yeah", the boy nodded, glancing at the girl by his side. "She."_

 

"--El."

The girl scrunched up her nose as she took a deep breath - immediately feeling as she was being suffocated. She sat up and coughed, eyes watering at the tightness in her lungs. 

A hand came to pat at her back gently.

"Are you okay?", Will's soft voice caused her eyes to open wide and find his teary ones, before she looked around.

"You...", El whispered in astonishment after a few seconds, getting on her knees. 

She brought up a hand, ignoring the pain in her whole body, and carefully touched the outline of the clear bubble that separated them from the flames. She felt the heat against her fingers and hissed, pulling her hand away.

Looking down at her red palm she let out a startled cry, shaking her head. It had hurt, yes, but it wasn't the point. "Will", she whispered, amazed.

"It didn't come through before", he admitted, offering her a small smile when their gazes met again. El's eyes were bright red, the veins on her face showing as if her skin was paper thin. The time they had spend apart suddenly felt a lot more than a weekend. "I tested it, but... I think I'm getting tired."

"It's okay", she told him slowly, casting her gaze away.

Will swallowed hard, glancing at the fire. "I-I'm not sure how long I can hold this. We...", he trailed off, not sure what to say. 

She glanced at his bleeding nose and ears, letting out a shaky breath as she scurried over to him. 

"We're going home", El told him, her normally soft voice raspy and broken, taking a hold of his hands. "Home."

"Yeah", Will nodded a little, watching their hands. He felt how his energy slowly ran out of his body. 

He wasn't sure if he believed it, the fact that they would once again be able to return home. Maybe this was everything that was left for them.

Maybe this was their purgatory.

Scrambling up from the floor, El stood and pulled the boy up with her. "Out", she murmured, watching the surrounding flames with furrowed eyebrows. 

The fire crackled around them, the air filled with the smell of burning materials.

"I-I don't know which way the stairs are", Will told her, his voice thin due to suppressed tears.

She turned to him, her bloodshot eyes startling him again. Squeezing his hands, El offered him a tiny, wavering smile.

 

Will held El's hands tightly as he stared down, eyes wide.

It was chaotically beautiful.

Under their feet laid the red sea of burning hot flames, one's that ate everything in the room they could. Every vine, egg, monster - everything it reached.

The thick smoke had former a dark cloud above their heads. The air was hotter than he had ever felt anything be and smelt of burning meat, the realization of the cause making him sick to his stomach. 

He glanced at El, who looked down with the same astonishment that he had wore only seconds before. She kept floating them in the air, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"El", he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

"Hm?", she hummed under her breath, lifting up her gaze. 

Will swallowed, squeezing her hands. She somehow understood his silent request and squeezed them back before she closed her eyes, beginning to slowly move them across the room.

Taking a deep breath he glanced down, still trying to locate the monster they had seen. 

He couldn't really remember what had happened.

They had seen Three push Brenner towards it, after which the room had burst into flames. 

He knew that Jim, Callahan, and Powell had poured gas all over the hall. It had been part of the plan the adults had formed, which in all honesty seemed to have worked. But he wasn't sure if it had been Three that had started the fire, or someone else. 

All he remembered was waking up from the floor by El's side, holding her hand, and being surrounded by the flames without them actually touching neither one.

He had called her name countless of times, shaken her with the fear of having lost her.

But here she was. 

"We can't", El said suddenly, scrunching up her nose at something behind him. "The door... Can't open it."

Will glanced behind himself, at the door on the landing. 

"Too hot", she mumbled.

"Not with your powers?", he asked gently, turning back to her.

She simply shook her head, casting her gaze away from him. "There is... another way."

 

"I don't even have my flashlight", Will said as he stared forward into the darkness, pressing his pockets with his hands, before he coughed. "It... It must have dropped...", he said after clearing his throat, voice raspy. "How long is this, anyway?"

"Long", El muttered as an answer, while taking off her coat. 

"Don't", he argued, looking back at what she did with furrowed eyebrows. "You'll get cold."

"The smoke", she explained, coughing a little as she hang the coat, covering the opening of the vent with it. She also blocked the last bit of light they had, which had came from the fire. 

Will then felt her hand, searching for him in the pitch black tunnel, and blindly took a hold of it. He heard her sigh softly, the sound forming a relieved smile onto his face.

"Go", El whispered, pulling her hand away. She then pushed his back a little. 

He heard her sniffle.

"We'll be home soon", Will whispered back.

"Yes", she rasped out as an answer. 

"Stay close behind, okay?", he begged her softly, before he begun to crawl forward.

How she had done it before was beyond him. He couldn't see the end of the tunnel.

How had she known that it would end at some point?

 

Karen watched as at first their car pulled onto the front yard, before three others followed. 

"They're back", she got out, glancing at Holly who had fell asleep on the couch while watching cartoons, before hurrying to the front door and out of the house. 

Pearl and Edith followed her, none of them bothering to put shoes on as they stopped to the front porch.

Ted met her gaze as he stepped out of their car, shaking his head a little.

Karen walked the few steps down slowly, her heart breaking as she saw their faces. "No", she breathed out. "El?"

Jim glanced at her way, the look on his face immediately bringing tears to her eyes. Then she saw Joyce, guided towards the house by Jonathan. She looked around again, her heartbeat quickening as she realized that not only one but two were now missing amongst them.

"El and Will?", Pearl questioned, her voice tight.

Just as Joyce broke down, slipping away of her son's hold and dropping to the cold ground, Mike rushed into his mother's arms.

Words weren't needed after that.

 

Callahan and Powell did their best to help, staying behind at the laboratory.

They had watched the people dressed in protective suits, who had obviously come from the corporation that ran the laboratory in Hawkins too, disappear inside the building. 

The white vans had pulled over in front of the building, as soon as the last of their groups cars had disappeared around the corner.

"Do you think there's something left?", Callahan murmured, after checking that no one else was around.

"Of what?", Powell murmured, staring darkly at the group. "The monsters, or the bodies?"

Shaking his head, the younger man covered his face in his hands. "...Fuck."

"If you're going to go near their family, my advice is to wash your mouth with soap."

"I just... I can't believe it", Callahan hushed out. "Anything."

"Everything you once thought belonged only in comic books and movies could be true", Powell said slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Along with some conspiracy theories."

"That's fucked up--." 

"But for us this is a normal December weekend, just a normal Sunday. We don't know what has happened inside, nor who possibly could have been here. I noticed the smoke as I was picking you up, and we drove here."

Callahan took a deep breath, nodding furiously. "Nothing else happened, alright..."

They stared at the doors in silence.

"I just hope there won't be any...evidence", Powell continued after a while. "The last thing Hopper and his family need now is an investigation about this."

Callahan nodded again, casting his gaze down.

"I just happen to know, that bones don't really burn."

"So there will be something."

"Exactly."

It was silent after that, as the two waited for what was to come.

 

Jim watched Joyce from the other side of the room, unable to tear his gaze away. She had stopped crying roughly five minutes before, and had since then been staring at the floor. 

And if he was being honest, he was waiting for her to lash out on him.

He deserved it, no matter what she would throw at him. He deserved it all.

 

Staring at the morning sky, Jonathan stood by the living room window. The smoke could be seen even from their house, so the whole town probably knew of the fire already. 

They weren't sure, though. No one had turned on the tv.

 

Will had been listening to El's breathing for a while, as there was nothing else to concentrate on. 

They literally saw nothing. 

It was so dark that no matter how close you brought your hand, you just couldn't see it.

But her breathing kept him sane, somewhat. Just hearing her, knowing that she was there kept his mind clearer and heart at ease. So when her breaths started to sound ragged and went off their previous rhythm, he couldn't ignore it.

"El? I'm stopping", he informed her softly, before he turned slightly around in the tight tunnel. His head scraped against the material, even though he tilted it to its side. "You... You okay?"

"N-no", she whispered to him, just as a hand reached out to him blindly.

He placed his hand above hers, from where she held onto his jacket. "Is it the dark?"

"...Yes."

Will pulled her into a clumsy hug and felt how she hugged him back tight, just before she broke into tears. "We'll be out soon, then...then we'll go home", he whispered. 

"I-I-I...", El stuttered, her whole body shaking. She breathed in slowly, nestling her head onto his shoulder. Even though it was mixed with smoke and blood, she could still make out his familiar scent. Home.

"What is it?"

"I'm s-sorry."

Closing his eyes, even though it didn't matter whether they were closed or open, Will leaned against her head as his throat felt like it was closing up. "El--." 

"I wanted home", she breathed out, interrupting him, "but h-he would've come back."

"He was your brother, wasn't he?" Will felt her nod, her head rubbing against his own and his shoulder.

"H-he took me."

"We know", he whispered softly. "Troy told us. We...we worked the rest out together. Mom and dad, Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Max... Even Jonathan and Nancy came", he explained, listening how her breathing calmed down. "Callahan and Powell, too. Everyone's parents... Everyone."

"You tried to find me?", she asked then, holding her breath as she waited for an answer. 

Will opened his eyes, turning his head towards her more. "Of course we did. We were worried, afraid that something had happened to you", he rambled on, the words coming out harsher than he had meant. "Don't ask that from mom or dad, from anyone, please... It would hurt them."

El was quiet for a while, the only sound being their uneven breathing. "Okay", she whispered after a while, her voice strangled.

He hugged her tighter for a second, before easing his hold. "Let's go... I bet everyone's waiting for us."

She let out a laugh, one that didn't sound like her normal self. Her voice had lost its edge. "Yes", she whispered then, once again gently pushing him to move. "Let's go." 

 

For some reason, no one had mustered the strength to leave. 

Karen and Joyce sat on the couch, sobbing onto each other's shoulders, while their eldest children escaped the room for some privacy.

Jonathan couldn't keep watching his mother cry, no more than Nancy could watch hers.

 

Opening the slide door to the porch, Jim let both of their dogs out.

Chewy ran the stairs down and out of sight, but Rocket seemed to hesitate. He wagged his tail fast, keeping it low along with his head, going around in loops.

"Just go", the man murmured, reaching down to pat at the dog's head. 

Rocket took a few running steps away, but after noticing that the man didn't follow he stopped and glanced back.

Jim was just about to close the door when Mike rushed past him, putting on his coat.

It didn't take Rocket more than a second to follow the teen.

"Jim."

The man turned around, closing the door absently, spotting Callahan and Powell in his living room. He nodded at the two, taking a few steps closer to them.

"They searched the building", Powell told him, not bothering to keep his voice down.

Pinching at the bridge of his nose, Jim closed his eyes. "And?", he murmured.

"They found three bodies", Callahan spoke fast. "And a lot of other burned...stuff..."

Joyce let out a loud wail, unable to keep it in.

Powell shot his coworker a look, before he turned back to their murderous looking chief. "They found only three bodies", he corrected. "Two adult size, one smaller."

 

"We're almost h-home, El", Will breathed out, tugging her along by the hand.

She shivered, her jaw trembling uncontrollably. He had tried to give her his coat, but she had stubbornly refused. "I-I-I...k-know."

They had walked through the woods, taken the shortest way by foot, and were now on their home road. The sand and gravel had frozen, crackling under their shoes as they trudged forward.

"L-look", he said suddenly, letting out a startled chuckle. "Chewy."

And El looked up from her shoes, which she had been staring at in exhaustion, to see their dog running towards them on the road.

Tears prickled in her eyes as she watched him near them.

Soon Chewy was there, poking his snout at both of their outstretched hands, lulling his tongue at them as he wagged his tail happily. 

"C-Chewy", she hiccuped.

"Just a little further, El", Will encouraged her softly.

She nodded, swallowing her tears as she took a hold of the dog's collar. 

 

Mike walked away from the house, Rocket by his side. He had no idea where he was going, he just wanted to get away.

Tears ran down his cheeks in a steady rhythm, feeling hot against his cold skin. 

His head was a blur until the moment that Rocket suddenly took off, soon fastening its pace into a run.

"Rocket!", he shouted, voice cracking.

But the dog didn't stop. 

It reached the road and turned left, soon disappearing behind the trees at the edge of the lot. He tried to ran after it, as fast as he could, but he was too late.

Letting out a strangled sob he kicked at a rock, watching around in panic. He messed his hair, ranking his hands through it, as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Only to open them a few seconds later when he heard the rustle of the ground.

"Hi", Will smiled at him tiredly, while El watched him with teary eyes.

Without a word, Mike ran to them and wrapped both into the tightest embrace any of them had ever been a part of.

"H-how?", he rushed the word out, taking in a deep breath as he felt Will hugging him back with only one arm. "I saw it, I-I saw the fire", he sobbed, pulling El as close to him as he could. "Y-you were gone..."

She cried against his chest, hugging him so tight that he knew it wasn't a dream.

Mike glanced at his friend, who had an arm around El too, both of the boys squeezing her in the between of them. He knew what Will meant, when the boy slowly shook his head at him. 

It really wasn't the time for questions.

Dropping his head down against hers, Mike nuzzled El's hair with his forehead, closing his eyes. 

It felt like the smoke, that he had inhaled a few hours ago, had finally left his lungs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Finally.


	47. You're shying away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I've been trying to learn tumblr and how it works - honestly, I'm such a mess with these things. I'll tell you guys when I have something other than a plank page and an username...
> 
> THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND KUDOS xx

**You're shying away**

 

Will pulled away from the hug, giving Mike's back a pat as he smiled at the two. 

He turned to their dogs, scratching behind their ears and ruffling their furs, feeling a little awkward while third wheeling for one his best friends and his sister. But he couldn't quite leave either, further than the ten feet he had already taken. He felt like he should wait, so he did.

"You're cold", Mike mumbled and begun to open his coat, which he hadn't fully closed after leaving the house, pulling slightly away from El to do so.

"Almost home", she rasped out, stopping him with a hand on his arm. "Don't need it."

"Let's go, then", he said softly, unable to tear his gaze away from her. 

She looked down on purpose, he could tell, but he still saw everything that he knew she tried to hide. Her eyes were bright red while her skin was grey, missing its normal blush. She had dark smudges all over her face, some black or grey but the largest one was no doubt blood. 

He brought a hand to her face, to rub his thumb over the reddish brown spot a few times. Some of it even came off.

El didn't even seem to notice. She took a hold of his free hand gently, looking down at it. "A minute", she begged then, her voice barely audible.

Frowning at the cold feeling of her fingers against his, Mike nodded. He let go of her hand, breaking into a tiny smile when she protested with a soft whine, gently pulling her back to him. He then wrapped his open coat around her, as much as he could. 

"A minute", he whispered.

El circled her arms around his middle, cold palms pressing against his warm back and sending shivers along his spine, getting as near to him as possible. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, resting her head onto his shoulder. 

"I...I missed you", she whispered against his neck.

"I missed you too, so, so much", he hurried to tell her, bringing her even closer. She nuzzled her face against his neck, her now cold tears startling him a little. But he didn't mind. 

The wind suddenly blew colder, causing El to shiver a little more than she had before.

Mike of course noticed it, the two being so close to each other that he could have mistaken the shiver for his own. "Let's get you inside."

 

They entered the house, loud voices meeting them immediately after they opened the front door. 

Chewy and Rocket ran in first, disappearing among the people in the living room. El took her shoes off in the mudroom and slid them neatly to the side with a foot, the same way she did every time she came home, eyes focused on the backs that were turned towards them. 

"--but you said _three_!?"

"No! I mean yes, but--!"

"What does that mean? Where are the...the others?"

As they stepped into the living room, she saw everyone. All her family and friends, joined in on the heated conversation which she couldn't so suddenly grasp onto.

Jonathan was the closest and the first to notice them, and came over the second he had laid his eyes on the trio. Wrapping both of his siblings into a tight embrace, he chuckled softly as tears filled his eyes.

"No way...", he breathed out, breaking into a smile when both hugged him back. 

His sudden movement had broke the argument in the room, and caused everyone's attention to turn towards them.

Joyce let out sob as she and Jim both ran over, neither believing their eyes.

"Mom", Jonathan said, turning around while still keeping the teens close. He met Joyce's gaze, before looking at Jim with a watery smile. A breathless chuckle escaped him as everyone else's eyes widened, when they really saw the two.

Jim brought a hand to Will's hair, while the other gently grazed El's cheek. "Someone", he murmured, eyes traveling between the teens in surprise, "call...call the hospital."

"A-are they alright?", Karen asked as she too came over, looking between the two. "An ambulance?"

"Just in case", he nodded slowly, tilting El's head up to see her eyes. She met his gaze, eyebrows slightly furrowed, before she glanced at Joyce and Karen who both watched her with worry. "But a doctor too", he added in a murmur.

"I'll call", Callahan offered right away, before rushing out of the room for the phone.

"Does it hurt, anywhere?", Joyce rambled a little, glancing both of her children with wide eyes. She noticed the blood that had dried on the both of them, leaving dark trails running down from their ears. "A-are you bleeding, do you...do you have any wounds?"

El shook her head a little, which was still being gently held by Jim's large hand. He smiled down at her, running a thumb over some dirt on her cheek.

"Mom", Will chuckled a little while offering her a small, tired smile. "We're fine."

Shaking her head in tears, Joyce wrapped both into her arms. "Of course you are", she choked out, rubbing their backs as her children cuddled against her in return. "How...how dumb of me to think otherwise."

Jim let out a low laugh, watching down at the teens in astonishment. After hearing him, El turned around and came to him instead, hiding her face against his chest. He wrapped her into a tight hug, stroking at the back of her head as she cried.

Soon Will trailed over to them too, joining in on the hug with Joyce not far behind. She kissed both of their heads countless times, whispering something that only they could hear.

Looking up at everyone in the room, who had inched closer to them with wide teary eyes and relieved looks on their faces, Jim chuckled. "I can't believe this."

 

Lucas kept fidgeting on his place, his father holding him back by his shoulders, watching Will and El get hugged by their family. He glanced at Mike, who had been wrapped into a sideways hug by his mother, before he cast a glance at Dustin and Max.

Dustin had a wide smile on his face and the boy also moved around restlessly, like he did, while Max looked like she was holding back tears.

Casting his eyes back onto their two friends, Lucas understood both reactions better than well. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel.

His eyes then met the ones of Will, who offered him a smile just a second before Dustin wrapped the boy into a tight hug. Their light laughter filled the previously silent room, bringing smiles to everyone's faces. 

"Go", Pearl whispered, as Samuel finally let go off his son's shoulders.

And Lucas walked across the room, around a couch, fighting back tears. When Dustin moved onto El, swirling her around a little before they settled into a hug, Will immediately turned to him.

They walked to each other and Lucas wrapped his arms around the tiny shoulders, afraid to hurt the other boy in any way.

"I won't break", Will whispered, smile audible in his voice, the palms of his hands flat against his friend's back as he cuddled as close as he could. 

Lucas knew that he could have kept hugging him for the whole day. But he also knew that everyone were watching them, which caused him to pull away after a while. He offered Will a shaky smile and took in a deep breath, in an order to try to calm down.

"Hey..." Cold hands found their way onto his face, wiping away the tears before the slowly slid down. "Don't cry."

"Like I could help it", the boy got out, sniffling as he cast his gaze away. He saw El then, just as she was getting out of a tear-filled hug with Nancy, heart tightening at the sight of her.

"Go to her", Will told him, his voice soft as he pushed his friend's back a little.

El turned to Lucas just as he stopped to her side. 

"Hi", she whispered, wiping her eyes to the dirty sleeve of her pink jacket. She then saw the tears that fell down his cheeks, and her eyes widened in worry. "Lucas..."

"I'm so sorry, El", he hurried to tell her. "For...for leaving you alone, not coming back sooner--."

"No", she told him sternly, before pulling him into a tight hug. "I-I...", she begun, her voice trembling. 

He hugged her back, tilting his head down to hear her better. 

"I-I rather have you _alive._ "

It was meant to come out as a whisper, but El sobbed the words out instead. 

The adults stared at them in shock. Samuel pulled Pearl to his side with an arm around her, while Joyce covered her mouth with a hand as Jim took a gentle hold of her shoulders.

Lucas closed his eyes as the rest of the boys surrounded them, wrapping up the two tightly in the middle.

Mike rested his forehead on El's shoulder from behind with one hand squeezing Lucas', while the other grasped onto the girl's jacket. Will had his arms wrapped around both of their backs, Dustin doing the same from their other side. 

It was nice, the warmth and comfort, to each of them.

"Max", El breathed out after a while, causing the boys to release their hold of her. 

Separated from everyone else, Max sat on the armrest of one of their couches, fiddling with her hands. El walked over to her, noticing the lack of her friend's usual facade. Instead of the tough and determined look on the girl's blue eyes, she saw worry.

"You're not mad at me?", Max asked, biting her lower lip as she cast her gaze down.

"No."

"Cause I did leave you behind, after begging you to come with me", the girl explained, trying to cover her uncertainty by sulking.

Mike looked away from the girls and turned to his friends, the four of them exchanging silent glances.

"I was with Lucas", El told her, taking a hold of the girl's other hand as she came to stand before her. "I wasn't alone."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Max stood up and pulled her friend into a tight hug. "I missed you, weirdo", she whispered, closing her eyes as El's arms wrapped around her neck tightly. "Only you can come back alive twice."

"Will, too", El pointed out softly, causing the boys to chuckle a little behind them. "But I...I missed you too, carrots", she whispered softly, bringing a smile onto her friend's face. "And I'm not mad."

"Thanks", Max whispered back, fighting back tears. "And I won't leave again."

El nodded her head, sniffling close to the other girl's ear.

"El, Will", Joyce called the two. "The ambulance is here."

 

They were taken to their parents' bedroom for some privacy, both sat on different sides of the bed.

"Do I need to...?", El asked, trailing off as her voice broke, pointing at her clothes. 

"Just the jacket", the woman treating her said softly, while opening up a bag. "We'll start with listening to your lungs... Do you have trouble breathing?"

The girl shook her head, while pulling her arms out of the sleeves.

"I'm fine", Will said from behind her back, his voice soft. "It's just dried blood."

El glanced at his way, putting her jacket gently aside, before focusing back onto the doctor in front her. "M-me too", she said slowly, pointing at her ears. "Just dried blood."

The woman glanced at the pointed direction, before nodding. "I will still need to take a look at them. Now, just take a deep breath..."

 

"Do you think she would want something to eat?", Joyce asked Jim, as the two waited by the other side of their bedroom door. "Or...or if she wants to take a shower first? Change clothes?"

Jim hushed her gently, placing a kiss onto her forehead. "We have the whole day. Let's go with what she wants, what they want."

The woman nodded, leaning against him as they both stared at the closed door.

"We need to give her time", he whispered after a while, glancing at the people still in the living room. "We know some things, but there's a lot that could have happened... We don't want to push her."

"I know", Joyce whispered back, her voice tight. "If he... If he hurt her, in any way--."

"He's gone."

"That doesn't matter. She's here, alive, and everyone of _them_ treated her like she doesn't matter. But she does", she pressed, on the verge of tears, "she does matter, Jim."

"Of course she matters", he murmured.

 

The door to their bedroom opened after few minutes, revealing Will. "Um", he got out as he glanced behind fast, before looking at the two of them again.

"What's wrong?", Joyce asked immediately, freeing herself from Jim's arms.

Will looked between them once more before he disappeared back into the room without a word, causing the adults to follow in confusion.

"What's going on?", Jim asked the two doctors, immediately after he saw them. His gaze then met with El's, who sat on the bed. 

She looked scared. 

"It's about her eyes", the woman explained gently, "they have several broken veins. She's not allowed any aspirin until they have healed, due to its blood-thinning side effects. She should probably see an eye-doctor, though, to see whether the damage is on the surface or deeper."

"Is there something we could do?", Joyce asked as she sat down next to El, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and bringing the girl close to her side. "At home?"

"She should rest her eyes", the other doctor, a man, spoke up while packing up his bag. "No bright lights, as in lamps directed at her face, or television. Sleep is good, it helps to replenish cells."

"But now, at first...", the woman continued, turning to look at the girl again.

El shook her head fast, tensing beside Joyce who glanced at her quickly in worry.

"...you should consider using a bandage for a few days--."

"No."

"It gives the eyes some time to heal on their own, without any irritants."

The girl cast her eyes down, eyebrows knit together as she held back tears.

Jim's eyes moved from El onto the doctors, before he nodded at them slowly. "...Is that all?"

"Let them both rest for a few days", the woman told him with a soft sight. "If something comes up, either call for an appointment or come straight to the hospital."

The other doctor nodded at her words. "Otherwise they seem to be fine. Tired, but fine."

After the two had left, Joyce gave El's temple a kiss. "Are you tired, sweetie?"

The girl shook her head, even though her eyes felt heavy. 

She didn't want to sleep.

"Are you hungry?", Joyce continued softly, glancing at Will who nodded. El slowly shrugged at the question, staring at the floor. "If you take a shower and change into clean clothes, we could start with lunch..."

"Yeah", Will agreed softly. "I'm actually quite hungry."

Joyce nodded at her son with a smile, rubbing at El's arm as she turned to the girl. "What do you think, honey? Does shower and clean clothes sound good?"

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jim watched the girl shrug again as she picked at a tear on her jeans.

 

"Where's El?", Mike asked, when only Joyce and Jim returned into the living room. "And Will?"

"They'll take showers and change clothes", the man said slowly, looking around the room. "Then we'll have lunch. You're all welcome to stay, if you want. I know the past days have been rough, so I don't blame anyone for wanting to go home."

"We'll stay, if that's alright", Karen was the first to speak, offering both Joyce and Jim a small smile. "I could help with lunch, too."

Joyce nodded at her, a watery smile forming on her face.

"We should probably head home", Samuel said slowly, casting a glance at his wife and their currently fuzzy baby. Isaac had squealed unhappily a few times already, not clearly enjoying the room full of people and the still a little tight atmosphere. 

Lucas eyes widened as he stood up. "Dad--."

"Could Lucas stay?", Joyce asked gently, glancing at the boy first and then his father. "We could drive him home in the evening. It's no trouble."

The man nodded, while Pearl went over to kiss her son's cheek. "Be good", she whispered, gaining a small nod from Lucas in return.

"You know I am, mom."

"Can you do the same?", Dustin asked, turning to his parents. "Leave me here? I'd really like that."

Edith shook her head while chuckling, going over for a hug from her son. "Sure."

"If he's a nuisance just throw him out, alright?", Calvin told Jim and Joyce, erupting light laughter around the room. "He'll find a way home, eventually."

After looking around the room a little, from where she sat on the armrest again, Max cast her gaze down onto her hands.

"We'll come get Dustin, Lucas, and Max in the evening", Edith spoke up then, gaining the girl's attention. The woman offered her a warm smile, which she slowly returned. Dustin turned to her too, grinning shyly at her.

Max's smile only grew bigger.

 

El didn't look at herself from the mirror before the shower. 

She went in, having thrown all her clothes into the laundry, and let the water pour over herself and muffle every other sound. 

Feeling weak, she stared down at the contrast of the dirty water against the white tiles. A quiet sob escaped her lips as she closed her eyes, leaning against the wall for a while.

She felt dirty.

Tired, spend, stretched, and dirty.

Grabbing a sponge she scrubbed herself clean, multiple times, while the hot water and repeated friction left her skin sore. 

She glanced down at her wrist then, at the number there, face screwing up in tears. 

It wouldn't come off, no matter how much she scrubbed at it. 

It just wouldn't come off.

 

Mike had been really close to go and wait for El upstairs, he was that eager to see her again. But he sat on one of the bar-stools around the island instead, back against the counter, Lucas by his side in a matching position. Watching the doorway.

Both boys glanced at Dustin and Max, who stood by their side, and didn't miss the way their fingers were laced.

"Apple juice", Max said slowly, staring at the drinks on the counter. "...but I'm allergic to orange and other citrus fruits. I last had them when I was, well...small, so I don't even remember what they taste like. So, apple juice."

"You're allergic to citrus fruits?", Dustin asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, but just a little", she shrugged. "I'm not sure if I still am though, I haven't tried."

The boy quickly snatched the orange juice out of her reach, putting it further away.

"...I wasn't going to try now", Max chuckled.

"You never know", Dustin shook his head.

Karen placed a pot on the counter, smiling at the two. "Is this the last one?", she asked, turning around to Joyce.

"I think..."

"Mom, there's enough food already", Jonathan chuckled, causing even Mike and Lucas to turn around. "I think that's it."

"Well, there's thirteen of us", Joyce pointed out, giving his arm a pat. 

It was as if El and Will chose that exact moment to return downstairs, just as everything was ready for lunch. Chewy's bark gave the two away, as they had otherwise managed to sneak downstairs without anyone seeing them.

Both were dressed in sweats and hoodies, which was nothing like either one of them, but it was comfortable. Will gave El's back a little pat as she stopped to the doorway, and after a few seconds she entered the room.

El glanced at the ceiling, then the joined rooms, before turning to her parents. "The lights can be on", she pointed out softly. 

It was only noon, but December didn't provide much light on cloudy days anyway.

"It's what the doctors suggested", Jim reminded the girl softly, watching her from where he sat at the table with Ted. "To not have lights--."

"--pointed at face", El finished the sentence, turning to the window. She narrowed her eyes a little at the brightness of the natural light, almost immediately looking away. "Thank you."

"It's alright, sweetie", Joyce gushed at her softly, shortening their distance before wrapping the girl into a gentle hug. It didn't take longer than a second for the skinny arms to come around her in return. 

El's face pressed against her shirt and they stood a while like that, both needing a moment just to breath. 

Will was about to pass them in silence, to go over to his friends, but his mother pulled him into the hug as well. "Mom...", he sighed, although smiling a little.

"Hush", Joyce told him, keeping a hand at the side of his head to keep him on his place. 

Quietly he leaned his chin down onto her shoulder, looking down as he listened to his mother's and El's calming breaths.

They begun to pull away after a minute, after Joyce had kissed both of their cheeks a few times.  
"Now, what do you want for lunch?", she asked, stroking both of their cheeks while trying her best to form a cheery smile. "Anything you want."

"...Anything?", El rasped out then, clearing her throat afterwards.

"Anything", Jim said, his voice gentle as he looked at her.

The girl glanced at him, fiddling with her sleeves. She opened the few rolls that they had been on, before pulling them all the way down to even cover her fingertips.

"If she says eggos, I'm done", Dustin murmured, from where he and the rest of the teens were huddled over, gaining a swat to his arm. " _Max!_ What did we talk about this, about hitting me?"

"...Do it?", Max said slowly with a devilish grin on her face, causing Lucas to snort.

"Actually--."

" _Actually_ ", Mike interrupted his friend tentatively, watching El from across the room. "I could have some eggos."

She looked at his way briefly, and nodded after a few seconds. "Yes...me too."

 

El sat between Jonathan and Mike at the large dining table, glancing around her family and friends. 

Dustin's and Lucas' parents had gone home already, while Mike's whole family had stayed. She heard how Holly kept begging her mother to let her down, and even heard her name a few times, but didn't look at their way.

She had seen her eyes from the mirror and there was no way she would let a toddler, Holly nonetheless, to see them.

"El?", Mike said softly, gaining the girl's attention.

"Yes?", she said back slowly, blinking at the eggos that had appeared on her plate at some point.

"...What do you want on top?", he asked, watching her furrowed eyebrows in worry. 

He had no idea what he should do to help her, to make her feel even slightly better. She hadn't looked at him after she had returned downstairs, not even once, and he missed her even though she sat right next to him. 

"Syrup", El whispered to him, keeping her gaze fixed on her plate.

Mike reached for the bottle, opened the cork, and poured just the right amount for her. "Here", he whispered and watched how she pursed her lips a little, before nodding.

"Thank you."

"It's nothing", he promised softly, turning his gaze away in the hope that she would then eat.

 

Jonathan kept glancing at El, throughout the lunch, and noticed how tensed up she was. 

After having two eggos she didn't touch anything else, just simply stared at her plate while everyone kept stealing glances of her.

"El", he whispered then, having finally had enough of it all, pushing aside his own plate. "Let's get up from the table, okay? We can go to the living room."

He saw her scrunch up her nose a little, eyebrows furrowing, but she nodded and got up. With a hand on her upper back he took her away from everyone's eyes, guiding her towards a couch.

After El sat down he took a blanket from the recliner and covered her with it, before he settled next to her. She immediately cuddled to his side, and he pulled her closer with an arm around her. 

"You should sleep", Jonathan murmured after a while, pulling up her hood to cover her slightly damp hair. "You must be tired."

She shook her head frantically, bringing the blanket to her chin. "No", she rasped out.

"I don't mean alone", he continued softly, resting a hand onto her hooded head and bringing it to lean onto his shoulder. "Just close your eyes for a while, let them rest, that's all."

"No, Jon, please...", El whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, El", he hushed her, hugging the girl closer. "I'm here, and everyone else is in the next room. You're home and alright, stop fighting", he whispered, before trying to swallow the lump in his throat away. "Just...close your eyes, for a few minutes at least."

She sniffled, turning slightly sideways and tucking her head onto his shoulder better.

"Close your eyes, okay?", he murmured softly, covering her better with the blanket around her. "I promise I won't leave."

Jonathan listened to her ragged breathing for a while, rubbing her arm as he waited for her to say something. But she didn't.

Her breathing slowly calmed down, hands twisting a few times, as she fell asleep.

 

Mike was the first to join the two, after hurrying to eat his own lunch, sitting onto the couch next to them.

Jonathan offered him a smile when their eyes met, while he kept stroking her head through the hood. "She's exhausted", he whispered over her head.

Nodding, Mike looked down at her bare feet. 

She had brought them on the couch under her, but they had apparently sprawled out from under her blanket. He covered them again gently, frowning a little as he felt how cold her feet actually were. 

 

Slowly every last one of them poured into the room, taking seats in a comfortable silence. And Joyce nearly teared up when she saw them all, cuddled up as close to each other as they could.

Dustin and Max had squeezed themselves onto the couch too, on the other side of Mike. Will sat on the floor leaning onto Jonathan's legs, eyes a little droopy as he fought back sleep. Lucas had dropped down to his side, and rested his head onto the edge of the couch next to El's blanket-covered legs.

Holly was about to crawl to El's lap, despite the girl being asleep and surrounded by the boys, but Nancy got her just in time.

"I want El", the toddler whined softly, trying to pull herself free of her sister's hold.

"She's asleep", Mike whispered to her, glancing at El who fortunately didn't budge.

"You can be with her later, okay Holls?", Nancy whispered, backtracking onto the still empty recliner and pulling her sister onto her lap. She wrapped both arms around the girl, to make sure she wouldn't escape.

Jonathan shared a smile with Nancy, just before he went to brush some hair back from El's face. He frowned immediately, placing his hand onto the girl's forehead. "She has a fever", he murmured then, gaining the attention of every awake person.

"She has?", Joyce whispered, coming over to replace his hand with her own. Her eyes widened immediately. "...She's blazing hot."

"I'll go get some aspirin", Karen offered, already getting up from where she sat.

"She can't have any", Jim murmured. 

"What, why?", Jonathan asked fast, hissing the words out in confusion.

"It could thin her blood, or something", the man shook his head with a frown. "It's about her eyes, how they should heal on their own."

"We should measure her fever, then...then call the hospital", Joyce said slowly, eyeing the girl with worry in her eyes. "El, honey", she spoke louder then, caressing her cheek. "We need to measure your fever."

El slowly opened her eyes, almost immediately finding the ones of her mother. "Fever?", she asked groggily, lifting her head up from the shoulder it had been on.

"How do you feel?", Jonathan asked, rubbing her arm in a slow motion.

She glanced at him, before she cast her gaze down. "...Cold."

"It's still rising", Joyce sighed.

 

When Jim went to call the hospital after they had measured her temperature, Joyce trailing along as she hoped she could be of any help, Karen came over to El. She felt the girl's forehead and frowned at the feeling, before she took a hold of the cold hands.

She didn't even need to ask about it, she simply raised the blanket to see the bare feet. El glanced down at them as well, before their eyes met.

"No socks?", Karen whispered with a sigh.

El shook her head slowly.

"I'll go get them", Max offered, getting up and heading upstairs before anyone even had the time to react. She returned no more than a minute later, dropping bundled up socks onto her friend's lap.

Mike snatched them immediately, putting them on for El as the others watched the two. He then covered her feet once again, but this time his hands remained over them afterwards.

"The fever's not too high, in their opinion", Jim sighed as he returned into the room, coming to stand behind the couch with Joyce. His hand came to rest over El's head, stroking gently. "Lots of fluids, warm clothes, and sleep."

"Let's get you to bed, then", Jonathan said, helping El from the couch. The two disappeared upstairs, leaving a room full of restless people behind.

Mike stared at the stairs from where he sat, head tilted back uncomfortably. A nudge to his knee startled him, causing him to straighten up. "Huh?", he mumbled.

"She asked for you", Will told him slowly, turning his gaze away. "If you would go with her."

Lucas sniggered at the awkwardness, while Dustin pushed his friend up from his spot. 

"Oh, um", Mike blushed as he glanced at Joyce and Jim, then his own parents.

His father watched him bemusedly, while his mother smiled. Jim on the other hand nodded at him, approving the fact that Mike was about to go to his daughter's room alone with her. But Joyce let out a small hum of laughter after seeing the embarrassed look on the boy's face.

"You have our permission to break the rule", she told him softly.

Once Mike had already reached the staircase, he heard his mother's confused voice.

_"What rule?"_

Biting his lip, he rushed all the way up. He didn't want to hear _that_ part of their conversation, it would be too embarrassing.

Jonathan waited him by the doorway, as he got upstairs, breaking into a tiny smile. "Will told you, huh?"

Nodding, Mike blushed into an even darker shade of red than before. 

"She asked for you, even from me", the older boy whispered, giving his shoulder a pat as they passed each other.

"Y-yeah?"

"Yeah. Don't leave, even when she falls asleep. Just...be there for her", Jonathan murmured, casting a glance at the slightly open door. "I'm sure you know."

Mike nodded once again, not trusting his voice enough due to his nervousness.

. 

Jonathan returned downstairs, taking his previous place on the couch before looking around. The teens were doing their best not to laugh as they squirmed on their places, while the adults looked awkward. "...What happened here?"

"Nothing", Nancy smiled at him, Holly giggling in her lap. "Mom and dad just learned of the open door -policy in your home, and what's the reason for it."

"I didn't know they were dating", Karen breathed out, causing the teens to cover their wide smiles and muffle their chuckles. "I just thought--."

"That they simply liked each other?", Nancy asked, amused. "Mom, Mike's turning fifteen in a few months. He's not in middle school anymore."

"They even kiss!", Holly declared with a giggle.

Dustin burst out in loud chuckles after the innocent words, Max following soon after, while Lucas covered his face as his shoulders shook in quiet laughter. Will glanced at the two sets of parents, who stared at the toddler wide eyed.

Jim then cleared his throat, smirking a little as he turned his gaze away in amusement, while Joyce joined the teens chuckles. 

"That's...", Karen got out, blinking slowly at her youngest daughter.

"Good", Ted nodded, silencing the room with his calmness. "At least Michael found someone."

Will covered his face now too, as the whole room filled with laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. I've wondered what eggos taste like. It's weird to think and write about something, a food for example, not knowing what it's like.
> 
> Oh and yes, the reunion continues on the next chapter. (Now we can skip that question!)


	48. I'll be coming for you anyway

**I'll be coming for you anyway**

 

Mike closed the door slowly, not wanting to break the silence in the room, before looking at El who sat on the edge of her bed. She fiddled with one of her sleeves, staring down at it as she rolled it up - then down.

The sudden thought, that maybe she hadn't even realized he was in the room, crossed his mind briefly. It left a dull feeling behind.

He walked to the windows and shut the curtains over the both of them, glancing back to check that he could still see quite well, before crossing the room and going over to El.

"Do you have enough clothes?", he whispered as he stopped by the bedside, looking over her from head to toes. "You're not cold, right?"

She shook her head a little, keeping her gaze down. "--m not cold", she rasped out a second later, clearing her throat afterwards. 

"Then, um", Mike got out, scratching at his arm as he watched her. He wasn't sure what would be too pushy of him to do, or if she had changed her mind about wanting him there in the first place. "I'll lay down with you, I mean, if you want", he said sheepishly.

The answer he got was El standing up and pushing the covers aside, before settling into the bed and making room for him. Once he laid by her side, he pulled the covers over the both of them and tucked her in gently. 

She still didn't look at him. 

Instead she stared at his hoodie's zipper as she begun to fumble with it, while her toes curled against his ankles slowly as if they were stroking him. 

The only sound in the dim lit room, besides the ticking of the clock, was their breathing. 

"El", Mike said after a while, after his thoughts had become too heavy for him to bear. "I miss you."

After hearing him, all her previous movement stopped. She hang onto the zipper, holding it between her fingers as she stared ahead.

"I-I know that it's stupid", he breathed out, bringing a hand to rub at his tired eyes. "But I do. I miss you, even now that you're here. I just... I miss you so much."

El leaned forward, tucking her head under his chin as she threw an arm over him. "I'm here", she whispered, and even he heard the confusion from her voice.

"Yeah, but", Mike said as he swallowed, hugging her tight with one arm while his eyes burned due to the tears, "you don't even look at me. I feel like... It feels like I'm not here." 

She shook her head a little.

"El--." 

"It's not pretty."

Mike's eyebrows furrowed, as his tears stopped. "What?"

"M-my eyes", El explained, fingers brushing against the back of his hoodie. "They're scary."

His own eyes screwed shut and he hugged her a little bit tighter, before loosening his hold again. But his hand remained on her back, fingers drawing irregular patterns through the hoodie. 

"I saw them already, and I don't care", he told her softly. "I just want to be with you."

El stayed quiet but sniffed against him, her whole body trembling in his hold. He hated knowing that she was crying. As if hurt, scared, and sick weren't already enough. 

"And...you don't have to hide from me, ever, because I...", he begun to trail off, heartbeat immediately fastening as he realized what he had been about to say. "I-I..."

Pulling away from his chest, El finally looked up at him. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed and nose scrunched up. He wasn't sure if she waited for him to continue, or if she expected him to react badly at what he saw.

But Mike simply cradled her face in his hands, breaking into silent tears which he had been trying to hold onto. He took in everything about her, as his heart lurched in his chest. 

"Hi", he breathed out. A smile made its way onto his face, uncertain and tearful, as he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.

El sniffled, gaze locked with his as she brought her hands to his face in return. 

"H-hi", she whispered, and Mike closed his eyes briefly when she traced his tears.

"Do you...do you want to sleep?", he whispered breathlessly, his mind blank for a second. 

Shaking her head a little, El sneaked her legs between his own for warmth. And he made room for them, feeling his face heat up by her usual bold move, before relaxing the leg that was on top and letting their feet tangle together.

"No", she said after a while, sliding her hands down from his cheeks and placing them back to his chest. "I want to be with you."

"I'll still be here", Mike said, his smile widening due to her soft words. His words, to be precise, but they sounded a lot prettier coming from her. "I haven't really slept either, so we could both sleep. Together."

"Why?", she asked, frowning as her eyes found his again.

"Why, what?", he murmured back, sneaking a hand inside her hood to tangle his fingers into the still slightly damp hair.

"You haven't slept", El said slowly, taking a hold of his zipper again. "Why?"

"Oh, um", Mike faltered, glancing down at her hands. "No one really has. I mean... We have, but not much. We just couldn't."

"No... Not others, but you", she pressed, eyebrows furrowed. "Why haven't you slept?"

He sighed. "We had a lot to do, I guess--."

"Mike."

"I-I just wanted to be a part of it", he blurted out, looking over her head so that he could, even for a second, ignore the pout on her face. "We stayed at the station on Friday, and I wanted to help. I needed to."

El simply looked at him for a while, inwardly enjoying the way he kept slowly stroking at the back of her neck. She wanted to close her eyes at the feeling, but quite soon decided against it as she heard him clear his throat. 

"We told about the others", Mike continued after a while, "Three, Four, and Nine... The ones you told us about."

"And Five", she whispered. 

"Yeah..." He thought back to the car and the driver, momentarily, knowing better than to ask about them. "Troy told what he looked like, what he did, and we... We tried to find out who he was."

Nodding, she cast her gaze down to her hands again. "Did you?"

"No... I mean - we knew he was from the lab. But we didn't know he was related to you", Mike said, his voice soft as he cupped the back of her neck absently. "We had no idea where he would take you, or why."

"But... You went there. The lab."

He nodded at her, and soon felt her hands travel up to his cheeks again. She tilted his face down, their eyes immediately finding each other's. 

"You knew", El said, her voice soft and barely above a whisper.

"Yeah", Mike murmured, his eyes locked with hers. The redness in them looked painful and uncomfortable, causing his stomach to feel weird. He tried his best not to let it show. "I-I saw a dream, I guess... About you."

"In the basement", she rasped out, her fingers that slowly stroked his cheeks sending warmth to his face - along with his whole body. 

"How...how did you know?"

A tiny smile graced her face, so suddenly that it startled him a little. She averted her gaze almost immediately, the smile no longer there but her features softer compared to before. "I thought it was a nightmare."

"You saw it too?", he spluttered out, confused. His hand at the back of her neck tangled with her hair, while the other stayed on her cheek. "The dream of us, in my basement?"

El nodded, the movement so tiny and quick that he barely noticed it. 

"Did you...", Mike whispered, his heart beat quickening at the thought of her having connected to him from so far away. Even if it had been in a dream. "Did you do it?"

"Yes", she whispered back, still avoiding his gaze. "I missed you."

He couldn't help himself. Letting out a soft, surprised chuckle he pressed his forehead against her slightly sweaty one. "I...I missed you too, El."

Closing her eyes, El nuzzled his nose with hers, and it literally caused his heart to skip a beat. 

Her breathing ghosted over his lips but no matter how much he wanted to lean in, he chose to wait for her move instead. He felt patient with this, with her - something he wasn't otherwise. 

Mike watched her through half-closed eyelids, how she stilled but relaxed against him, their noses slightly touching and lips only mere inches away. And he knew he was holding his breath, but he enjoyed the gentle warm puffs of hers too much to mess them up.

"Sleep", she whispered after a while, crunching up her nose a little before bumping it against his again, their lips almost touching in the process. 

He felt how his face heated up. "Y-yeah", he murmured, sliding an arm under her head while his other hand stayed in her hair, under the hood. 

El snuggled even closer to him, keeping her eyes closed as she held onto his hoodie with both hands.

And Mike circled his arm securely around her, breaking into a smile when he felt her grab onto him tighter, before he too closed his eyes.

 

"This fresh air feels quite nice, actually. Wakes me up."

"I don't want to go too far, though", Max said as they walked away from their friends' house, wanting to take the dogs to the nearby field.

"They're all fine, you know", Dustin told her, taking a few long steps to the side of the road to pick up a stick. He showed it to her with a grin, after saving it from Rocket's reach. "This will do."

"Yeah", she nodded at it slowly, her focus on something completely different. "But still."

"I know you feel bad about the party--."

"And the diary."

Dustin glanced at her. "We all feel bad about it, but you didn't even read it."

"I gave the other one over, just like that", Max frowned, kicking a bigger rock out of her way. "You know, no matter how angry hearing it made me, Mike was right... I'm a lousy friend."

"He's not right", the boy huffed, raising his arms into the air. "He messed up, got mad and hotheaded - he even fought with Troy--."

"That asshole deserved it."

"Yeah, but not from that. He tried to kiss her, alright, but he tried to save her afterwards", Dustin reasoned slowly, as if he thought over each word before letting them out. He then threw the stick as far as he could, shoulder popping due to the fast movement. "God, that hurt", he crumbled, taking a hold of his shoulder with a frown.

"That came from you?", Max turned to him wide eyed.

"There's literally no one else here, from who could it have come from?"

"What did you break?", she asked as she came over, ignoring his witty response. "Shoulder?"

"It's not broken", he chuckled at her. "My joints just make a lot of noise, sometimes. Not sure if it's because of my condition, though, or am I just naturally as flexible as a stick."

Max raised her eyebrows at him, before she let out a laugh and turned to look at the dogs. 

Dustin watched her for a few seconds longer, before turning away too. "You know... It really wasn't your fault what happened. El doesn't think so either, isn't that what's the most important thing?"

"Yeah", the girl nodded, gaze currently following Chewy. "I just feel like I should be there, for her, you know? I feel like I'm in the wrong place now."

"Mike's with her, and I think that's what they both need the most right now", he said gently. 

"What about you?", Max asked, bumping his shoulder with hers as they stood side by side. "Don't you want to be with her?"

"Of course, but I know that I'll see her tomorrow too", Dustin pointed out. "I love her, I really do. She's like a sister that me, Lucas, and Will share. Well, kind of... But it's different with Mike. They have this bond, you know - it's hard to explain. You should've seen them last year, after she came back."

"Why?", she chuckled a little, glancing at the boy by her side. 

"We basically watched how the two fell in love, during the following months after her return", he said with a wide grin. "It was cute and gross at the same time, how sweet they were. And still are."

"In love?", Max questioned after a few seconds, eyebrows slightly furrowed as she snorted. "Aren't we all a little bit too young for that?"

Dustin shrugged. "Do you feel too young for having feelings for other people?", he asked her slowly, rephrasing her question. "Or don't you feel anything, towards anyone?"

"What-- no", she said immediately, before catching onto his meaning. "I have feelings for people, obviously, but love is different."

"Why? I love my parents, grandparents, and all my friends. That's not weird, they're all important to me. And I'm pretty sure Mike and El are in love, you just see it in them when they see each other", he said with a chuckle.

Max furrowed her eyebrows, eyeing the field in thought. She couldn't stay the same of her family.

"You know you can talk with me, right?", Dustin asked after a while, his voice soft. "And El, too."

"What do you mean?", she muttered, avoiding his gaze. "I'm talking."

"I know", he said, glancing up at the cloudy sky. "Do you think it'll snow soon?"

"Huh?", Max asked, her head whipping to him before she too looked up. "Oh... Yeah, those are snow clouds."

"They are?", Dustin asked with a delighted chuckle.

"Snow clouds are flat, and high up."

"What, really?"

"If they were rain, they would be lower", she reasoned.

"Are you serious or joking?", Dustin chuckled, turning to her with a wide grin on his face. "I really can't tell, so please help me out."

Max raised her eyebrows at him. "Of course I'm serious, what do you mean?" 

"It's just... That was amazing. I didn't know there was a way to tell them apart", he reasoned, still slightly confused but at the same time amused by her knowledge. "Where did you learn that?"

"Grandma probably."

"That's pretty useful."

"Yeah", Max nodded, shrugging as they slowly kept walking forward. 

A hand came to grab hers after a moment, just like it had done a couple times before during the weekend. She laced their fingers, keeping her gaze on the dogs, as a grin made its way onto her face.

"Movies or pizza?", Dustin asked with a chuckle. "Or both?"

"I'll pay the pizza", she said, giving his hand a squeeze. "But I swear, no pineapple! I'll dump you right away if you sneak that on it."

"You're no fun, Maxine, you know that?"

"Why the whole name?"

Dustin's eyes widened as he turned to her. "Huh?"

"Where did you see it, anyway? You haven't even been to my house, so mail's not an option..."

"IS MAX A NICKNAME?"

Max turned to him, startled by the sudden raise in volume. "What?"

"Your real name is Maxine?", Dustin asked slowly, trying to clear his own head. "Max is just a nickname?", he added dumbly. "...Is this really happening?" 

"Don't mock me!", she grumbled, trying to yank her hand away but he hold onto it just as tightly as before. "And don't tell anyone."

He blinked at her a few times, not sure what to say. "...Maxine, huh?"

"Shut up", Max let out a laugh, slapping his arm gently with her free hand. "My dad named me, or so mom says."

"Yeah?", Dustin looked at her, while she avoided his gaze.

"I'll never know", she shrugged. "Dad's not around to tell me."

"But...don't you like it? Maxine?"

"Do you?", Max snorted.

"I think that's cool, different", Dustin shrugged. 

She came a little bit closer to him then, standing slightly in front of him, and dropped her forehead onto his shoulder with a deep sigh. "Thanks."

Grinning widely, he draped an arm around her. "Sure thing, Maxine."

"I swear to satan, if you don't keep that to yourself--."

"I'm not sharing this knowledge, do you think I'm stupid?"

"...No", Max said, sounding unsure.

"But I'll still call you Maxine, sometimes", Dustin added. "Because that's a cool name for a cool girl, and it would be a shame if it went to waste."

She smiled against his cold jacket, heart fluttering in her chest. 

 

Will opened his eyes and straightened up, after someone had nudged him gently, glancing at the person sitting next to him with a tired pout on his face. 

"Shouldn't you go to bed, too?", Lucas asked him, eyebrows raised in slight amusement. "Your head keeps dropping."

Shaking his head the boy slumped down on the couch a little more, so that he could rest his head back better. "Don't want to", he murmured, before glancing around the now empty room. "Where's everyone?"

"Hopper went to the station, to solve everything out", his friend said slowly, looking around them as well. "Your mom is probably having a nap or something, so are Jonathan and Nancy upstairs. But Mike's parents went home with Holly, like half an hour ago." 

"Dustin and Max?"

"She wanted to take the dogs out, to help your mom, and he went along."

Chuckling softly, Will turned slightly so that their eyes met. "They're dating, right?"

"I guess", Lucas smirked at him a little. "They have flirted for half a year already, so it's about time."

"I know!"

Lucas turned his gaze away, listening to his friend's soft laughter, while a smile tugged the corners of his lips so much that it felt weird. He looked down at the hands he rested on his lap, slightly biting onto his lower lip. 

He had so many questions, but he had no idea where to start from.

After El and Mike had left for upstairs, and after everyone had calmed down in the living room from the sudden revelations, Will had only vaguely told what had happened. 

They had woke up, got out, and walked home. And that was supposed to be it.

Needless to say, Lucas didn't buy it.

"Some people came to the lab, driving white vans, and went inside", he murmured, after they had sat in silence for a while. "They found three bodies."

Will's head whipped towards him, he saw it from the corner of his eye. "What? Three?"

"Yeah, two full grown skeletons and one smaller."

"There should've been four", his friend hurried to say as he sat up straighter, eyebrows now furrowed in confusion. "Without me and El, there should be four, right? Brenner, Five, Three, and Ten. That's four bodies."

"I'm not the best at math, but even I can count as much", Lucas grumbled with a sigh. "One was Ten's, that much we know. But the rest--."

"They won't tell us", Will said, interrupting him with his soft voice. "The people from the lab, they'll hide it as well as they can. This whole thing, I think."

"What if it's Brenner?"

"I-I don't know."

Lucas turned to look at the boy by his side, fiddling with his hands. "What about Five? Or Three?"

Shaking his head slowly, Will met his friend's dark eyes. "I don't know", he whispered.

"You were cool today, you know?", Lucas whispered, offering a small smile to break the tensed atmosphere - before his face darkened. "I was mad at you", he said slowly, as if he was testing the words out, "but you were cool."

"You were mad at me?"

"Yeah."

"...Why?"

Rolling his eyes, Lucas took a deep breath as he averted his gaze back onto his hands. His previous calmness was gone, and the feelings from the morning had came back to him - hitting him hard. 

"You ran in there like an idiot, ignoring everyone else", he said roughly. "I thought you were going to die."

Will's eyes burned a little at the harsh words, and he bit back tears. "Lucas..."

"Actually, _no_ , I thought you died."

"I'm sorry--." 

"For hours, I thought you were fucking dead, Will, _dead_ ", Lucas hissed the last word, before he took a deep breath and shook his head. "Sorry doesn't quite cover it." 

He then got up from the couch, and after briefly weighting his options he headed downstairs.

"Lucas, please", Will rasped out.

Running down the stairs, the boy flicked on the lights to the basement on his way. He glanced around the room, checking that no one was there, while wiping his tears away.

"I-I had no choice", a soft voice said behind his back, causing him to stop to his spot. "I knew I could help her, and I did--."

"Did you stop to think how I'd feel?", Lucas asked as he turned to face his friend, but his face immediately softened when their gazes met. 

Will's eyes were wide and full of tears. "No, but I thought--." 

"I thought you burned alive. Both of you. I heard the screams, and I...", Lucas trailed off, feeling as if he was about to choke on his own words.

"I know", the other boy whispered, taking in a deep ragged breath. "B-but we're all fine, I'm fine... I'm sorry, Lucas, but p-please don't be mad..." 

Lucas shook his head at his friend, before he closed the distance between them and wrapped him into a tight embrace. "I'm mad, because you scared the life out of me", he murmured, while two arms slowly rose and came around him in return. "You scared me."

"I thought we would die", Will whispered to his ear, causing the taller boy to tense. "W-when we woke up, just us, a-and in the middle of the flames... I thought she was dead. S-she was grey, and...and I couldn't find a pulse - I tried, but it just..." 

Eyes wide and staring blankly ahead, Lucas tried to stay calm. "W-what? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't want to", the boy let out a cry, tightening his hold of his friend. "She doesn't know, but she was dead. I...I shook her for minutes... S-she was dead."

"But she's here now, no matter what happened", Lucas said weakly, swallowing the lump from his throat. "So are you, Will, and... I'm really happy that you are here. W-with me", he added softly, his stomach knotting after his own words.

Will suddenly lowered himself down a few inches, and dropped his forehead against the boy's shoulder.

"...Were you tiptoeing?", his friend asked, for a second forgetting everything else, his amusement erupting light laughter from the both of them.

" _No_ ", the boy chuckled.

"You were", Lucas breathed out, hugging the boy even tighter. "You're so small..."

"You're quite tall yourself", Will mumbled against his collarbone, but smiled nevertheless. "Are you done hugging me?"

"No", his friend said, face heating up due to his own revelation. "I think I need a minute."

"...Okay."

Lucas fiddled with the back of his friend's shirt, eyes cast down to the floor, while Will begun slowly rubbing at the other boy's lower back from where his hands rested. 

"Is it weird, to you?", Lucas asked after a while, his voice raspy. "That I want to hug you?"

Will bit his lip, keeping his face hidden as his cheeks blushed. "I guess not."

"...You guess?"

"Hm-m", the boy nodded.

"But", Lucas begun, swallowing hard as he mustered his courage. "The others...they don't hug you like this, right?"

"Yeah", Will whispered. "Just you."

"Good", the boy said, before his chest raised as he took a deep breath. "I mean, y-you know...", he stuttered, eyes wide. He hadn't meant that to come out. "I-I mean..." The chuckle his friend let out startled him, shutting him up. 

"It's fine, Lucas... I know."

"...Yeah?"

Will pulled back so that they saw each other, his eyebrows raised. "Yeah. I know what you mean", he said softly.

Swallowing, Lucas bit his lip. "And this is fine? You don't mind?"

"I don't mind", the boy whispered, his gaze calculative. "Do you?"

"No."

"Then that's that", Will told him, his lips curving into a small smile, from which his friend couldn't tear his gaze away. "It's just us--."

His sentence got interrupted by a kiss, and his eyes widened at the sudden soft feeling. 

Heart drumming in his chest, he looked at Lucas wide eyed as the boy pulled his face away, his lips slightly apart as they had been caught by surprise.

"L-Lucas", he stuttered out in a whisper, not getting anything else out even though several questions were quickly rushing into his head.

"Was that fine, too?", Lucas asked, his voice thin. "Or too much?"

The following seconds felt long, as the two stared at each other - one in shock and confusion, the other filled with nervousness from head to toes.

"Did you...did you just kiss me?", Will asked slowly, finally breaking the silence, barely blinking as he forced the words out. 

His friend nodded shyly, waiting for the other boy to pull away or freak out - or both in worst scenario. 

But the pale face blushed bright pink instead. "O-oh."

Lucas' eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "Oh?"

"W-what do you want me to say?", the boy stuttered, squirming a little in the embrace he still was in. The arms around him didn't loosen their hold, and he wasn't sure if he would actually even have wanted them to. 

"You want to go?", his friend asked instead, his voice barely above a whisper. His dark eyes were full of emotions, in a contrast to his calm face.

Will stopped fidgeting immediately, averting his gaze down from his friend's eyes. His heartbeat drove him crazy, pounding in his head and pumping ridiculous amounts of blood to his face. 

"You were the last to kiss me, last summer, and it was my turn now", Lucas said after a while, swallowing nervously as he pulled his friend slowly and gently back into the hug. "Next one is yours."

Nodding, Will burrowed his flushed face to his friend's shoulder. 

 

Mike woke up with tears in his eyes, his heart aching so bad that it felt like someone was trying to squeeze it with their bare hands. He couldn't even breath properly due to the violent sobs, ones that shook his whole body. 

It took him several long seconds to realize that the feelings weren't his, but belonged to the girl who he held tightly in his arms. She cried against his neck, head tucked under his chin, and her fingers digging to his chest and back.

"El", he breathed out, rubbing her back with the hand that he had around her. "It's o-okay, I promise..."

She was scared, he felt that. Her shock and terror filled every nook of his mind, her thoughts swirling so fast that he couldn't grasp onto them. He wasn't sure if he would have wanted to, even if he could.

He still had his other hand at the back of her neck, on the warm and sweaty skin, and he pulled it slowly away. "El... Look at me, please." 

_Mike._

"Y-yeah", he whispered to her, sniffling. "I'm right here, just like I promised before."

The connection dropped suddenly, leaving an empty and dull feeling behind - which soon faded away, as El lifted up her chin and looked at him.

"A-a dream", she choked out, tearful eyes locked with his. "Bad dream..."

"I know", Mike murmured, holding back a cry. He wiped away her tears, trying to keep his breathing even and give his heart a chance to calm down. 

El brought a hand to his face too but instead of doing the same thing as he did, she touched his lip and caused him to wince. "This... You're hurt", she frowned up at him, before looking at his split lip again.

"It's nothing", he said softly, enjoying the feeling of her slowly stroking the scab with a finger. 

She pulled her fingers away after a while, before leaning in and pecking his lips softly right over the old wound. Pulling away, her eyes met with his. "Better?"

"Yeah", Mike smiled. He pulled her back, placing a soft kiss to her forehead after she cuddled back against him. "A lot better."


	49. You're all the things I've got to remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. **THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE KUDOS AND COMMENTS!!**
> 
> And from an actual person to you: I made a tumblr account! I'm still learning all the different things that I can do with it, but
> 
> I'm found as **radiantraisin** in tumblr, but you can spot my IG from there as well (it's also new, but you're welcome to follow me there too - I'll return the favor.)
> 
>  
> 
> _All friends welcome._

**You're all the things I've got to remember**

 

Will and Lucas lounged in the living room, both leaning to their own ends of the same couch with their legs stretched side by side. That was all they had done for the past ten minutes, just laid there and stole shy glances of each other.

They couldn't reduce the blushes on their faces, nor shake off the giddy feeling that had settled onto the pits of their stomachs. 

"We're back!", Max declared right after she opened the front door, her voice loud and cheerful, accompanied by soft barks.

Chewy and Rocket rushed inside and straight to the kitchen, past the living room and Will's outstretched hand as he tried to greet them.

"Someone could be sleeping!", Dustin's hushed voice carried over from the mudroom.

"Oh, shit..!"

Lucas offered Will a smirk along with a nudge to the boy's side with a foot, before he broke their eye contact and turned away with an innocent smile. Will tried to muffle his laughter, but was a little bit too late to succeed.

Max peeked at them from the doorway, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh, you guys are up."

"Did you have fun?", Lucas asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Dustin, when their two friends came into the room and sat down on the other couch. 

"I saw that", Max snorted, while she also took a more comfortable position and laid back. "But we did have fun, yeah", she said, smirking at Dustin.

"When don't we", the boy pointed out with a smug grin.

Will chuckled at the two, letting his arm dangle over the armrest and towards the kitchen. It was beginning to hurt a little, but he felt too lazy to move it. 

"Thanks for taking them out", he said, his words directed more at Max than Dustin.

"It's cool", the girl shrugged. "Your mom looked like she could use a nap, along with the rest of you."

"You could've woke me up", Will pointed out softly. "I wouldn't have minded."

"It's fine", Max brushed him off with a small smile and a wave of a hand. The boys all put the unnaturally calm behavior on her tiredness, and chose not to comment it in any way. 

"Your dogs are so easy, that we had to do nothing else but walk around. Besides, you were quite busy drooling on Lucas' shoulder", Dustin said with a chuckle, gaze going pointedly slowly between his two friends.

Will blushed bright red in embarrassment. "I-I wasn't", he stuttered out, becoming restless under the amused looks he was getting from the three. "And I don't drool", he added, frowning at the idea.

Lucas took a hold of the boy's feet gently, keeping them on their place by his side. "You were and you do", he said, smirking a little at the defeated face aimed at him. "But I didn't mind, obviously."

He then watched Will bit his lip in thought, before their eyes met again. His heartbeat sped up.

"Should we go check on El and Mike?", Max asked, glancing at the clock on the wall. "They've been sleeping for five hours."

"She's probably hungry soon", Will pointed out, tearing his gaze away from Lucas. "Except for the two eggos, she had nothing else at lunch."

Max frowned at him. "What if the last time she ate was on Friday, at dinner?"

"You think they didn't give her food?", Dustin asked slowly, glancing at all of his friends. 

Will shrugged, looking down to his hands in thought. "Just...don't ask her about that. It's too soon, she's... She's not well. Jim said that he still has to talk with her, but he won't do it until tomorrow either. We should think of something else for now, let her get better." 

Lucas gave his feet gently squeezes. "We know, okay?", he smiled at him a little, hoping that he came off as reassuring.

"Let's wait a little bit longer", Max said as she laid down. "I too need a nap." 

Dustin shook his head at her, straightening her legs to his lap. She raised an eyebrow at him, but relaxed shortly after.

 

Jim walked down one of the hallways in the hospital, Powell not far behind. He almost went past the right room and took a few steps back, before knocking on the door and opening it. 

His eyes immediately met with the startled grey ones. "Can we come in?"

"Sure", Miranda muttered, sitting slightly up and leaning against her pillows. "You were fast", she remarked, glancing at the badge on his jacket, "chief... I've only been up for half an hour."

"I'm sorry if the timing is inconvenient", Jim murmured, glancing behind just as Powell pulled the door closed and left them alone. 

"Did they come?"

The man turned back around, eyebrows slightly furrowed as he eyed her. 

"From there", Miranda specified, her voice low. 

Jim dragged a chair to the bedside and sat down with a sigh, rubbing at his stubble as he looked at her. He had no idea who she was or what she knew, but how she had spoke at the lab earlier had revealed enough. 

If there were sides on the whole lab-mess, she definitely was on the same one with them. 

"How many vans--?"

"Who are you?", he drawled out, eyes narrowing as she raised her eyebrows. "To the lab, to Brenner, to the kids...", he listed slowly, waiting for her reactions. "The only thing I know is your name, Miranda."

The woman leaned back and eyed him for a few seconds in silence. "Does it really matter who I am?"

"My daughter wanted us to save your life, so yes", Jim nodded, and didn't miss the way her eyes widened at his words. "You must have something that you could tell me. Why you were at the lab, who were the others with you? Anything."

Miranda let out a breathless laugh, as she broke into a smile. "You took her in?", she asked, ignoring his questions. "You're Eleven's family?"

"Did you work at the lab?", he asked instead.

"Is this some form of bad-cop act?", she chuckled darkly, turning her gaze away. "You won't answer any of my questions, but I have to answer yours?" 

"I'm the chief and you shot someone", Jim drawled. "So yes, this is an interrogation."

"The boy would have got us all killed. Not directly, but there would've been no way to stop Brenner with Ten in the room...", she trailed off, her voice forcedly strong. 

"Just tell me. Everything you know."

Miranda glanced at the window, then the door, before her gaze found his eyes again. "It's going to take more than a minute or two", she pointed out.

"I have time", he said as he leaned back, his hard eyes fixed on her. 

"What makes you think I do?"

"If I told you that neither Brenner, Five, nor Three got out, but there were two kids that miraculously did and came home, would you trust me then?"

 

Feeling too tired to get up, while her stomach was a little bit too empty for her too feel relaxed, El pressed her face to Mike's chest and sniffed his familiar scent. She had no words for it, other than it was _him_ , but it was easily the best smell she knew. 

The arms around her tightened their hold right away, and she soon felt him nuzzle his face to the top of her head.

"Mike?", she whispered.

He hummed as a response, before he begun rubbing her back in a slow motion.

Closing her eyes again, El smiled a little. She had both of her hands between the two of them, close to her chest and tightly fisted. Slowly she pulled one of her hands from the between of them, and sneaked the arm around him. 

Mike's eyes opened wide when something cold touched his back. Wincing, he arched away from the touch and looked down at El in shock, who was already looking up at him. 

"W-what are you doing? Your hands... They're ice."

She looked so startled and confused, her eyes wide as she begun to pull her hand away from under his shirt, that he immediately regretted his fast reaction.

"I'm sorry, it just woke me up - that's all", Mike tried to explain softly. He removed the arms from around her and took her hands in his instead, frowning immediately at how cold they were.

"Sorry", El whispered.

"I'm fine", he assured her, trying to suppress a smile as he knew she was still upset. "Do you know how I can warm them up?" 

El shook her head slowly, eyebrows furrowed and nose lightly scrunched up. She then watched how Mike cupped both of her hands, cradling them with his, and then felt him blew warm air from the between of his thumbs to her hands.

"Feels nice", she hummed in her slightly raspy voice.

Mike glanced at her, stopping immediately when he saw the look on her face. "You're smiling", he breathed out, breaking into a wide grin himself. 

"You're blushing", El whispered to him with a hint of teasing on her voice, her smile widening as she looked at him. 

"It's because you're so cute", he mumbled, while his face took an even darker shade of red.

Freeing her hands from his gentle hold, she placed them on his cheeks. "Here."

"...Are you warming your hands on my blushed face?", Mike asked slowly, amused by what she was doing. "Or are you cooling my face down with your cold hands?"

El scrunched her nose, frowning for a second before her smile was back on her lips. "Both", she said softly, brushing her thumbs under his eyes. "We're both helping each other."

He grinned at her goofily, and was just about to open his mouth when someone knocked on the door. She blinked at him a few times, before she begun to get up.

"No, just stay in bed", Mike murmured, gently pulling her down, and cleared his throat as he turned to lay on his back and faced the door. "Yeah?"

Dustin's voice was the first they heard. _"You decent?"_

"What? Of course we are!", Mike spluttered out, his face reverting to its previous flaming red color. "What is it?"

"Come in", El said from his other side, sitting up despite his protests. 

Their friends opened the door slowly, and grinned widely immediately when they saw the two. 

"Had a good nap?", Max asked with a chuckle.

El smiled at her, leaning against the headboard of the bed. "Yes."

From where his head still rested on the pillow, Mike glanced up at her. Their eyes met, and he found himself reaching out for her hand.

She laced their fingers with a smile, both of them ignoring the fake cough of Dustin and the wide grins on the rest of their friends' faces.

Max walked across the room and slumped down onto the armchair on the other side of the bed, dangling her legs over the armrest. "Your mom's up", she explained. "She said that she would order pizza for everyone, and asked us to come ask you what you wanted."

"Oh, and to bring this", Will added as he realized he still was holding a large glass of water, before closing the distance to the bed and offering it to El. "Mom reminded us how much you should drink."

El took the offered glass carefully, before she chugged it all down.

"And you said it was too much at once", Lucas sniggered as he turned to Dustin.

"What do I know?", the boy shrugged tiredly, rolling his eyes. "I've been wrong before, not like that's something new."

"Are you feeling any better?", Will asked softly, ignoring the boys at the doorway. "You can stay and sleep if you want, that's fine too."

El shook her head. "I'm hungry", she said, placing the now empty glass onto her bedside table. 

"Did anyone of you bring the thermometer?", Max asked the boys, who all shook their heads as an answer. "Why?", she whined, pointing at her friend. "We should see if the fever is at least going down!"

"Why didn't you bring it?", Lucas huffed as he and Dustin too came to bedside. 

"I didn't know where it was."

Mike briefly frowned at their friends and their bickering, before he too sat up and turned to El. He placed the back of his free hand, one that wasn't holding hers, to his own forehead for difference before feeling her forehead. 

"I think it's still as bad as before", he sighed. Without really thinking about how it looked, he slipped his hand inside the collar of her hoodie and to the back of her neck.

"Um...what are you doing?"

"Open door -rule, Mike, there's a reason for it."

"Her neck was sweaty before", the boy huffed in response, casting pointed glances at Lucas and Dustin. "Stop being such pervs and realize she's sick."

It was El's turn to frown at him. "A perv?"

Mike's eyes widened while still looking at his friends, who now supported wide and amused grins while trying to suppress their laughter. Even Will, who usually felt awkward in matching situations, smiled widely at his troubled friend.

"Yeah, Mike", Max drawled from the armchair, smirking at the two of them. "What's a perv, exactly?" 

"I-I don't know how to explain it", Mike stuttered as he turned to El, swallowing hard. Everything he thought either sounded really bad or matched him, so he had no idea what to say. 

Except that he was not a pervert, that was for sure. Even though he still had a hand inside her hoodie, one that was cupping the back of her neck.

Averting his gaze from her eyes, he pulled his hand away and rearranged her hood before beginning to tie the strings of it. 

"Mike?", El asked him slowly, watching his blushed face and trembling hands, feeling even more confused than before. 

"S-so you won't feel cold."

"Or that he can't sneak his hand inside, because that's what pervs--."

"Dustin", Will said sternly.

"If you won't tell me, I'll ask Jon. Or Nancy", El said slowly, after remembering that the two were in fact home, glancing at each of her friends. 

Mike's eyes widened at the mention of her brother and his sister. If she went to them, he wouldn't hear the end of it. Ever.

"For real, guys", Max said as she rolled her eyes, before letting out a deep sigh. "Perv is someone who thinks everything has a dirty meaning, like these two right here", she said, pointing at Dustin and Lucas who stood by the foot of the bed. "Dirty like _that_ kind of dirty."

El and Mike looked from her to the two boys, who stared back at them in shock. And despite his earlier shock and nervousness, Mike chuckled at the looks on their faces. 

Will gave Lucas' back a pat, who stood next to him, before smiling at his sister. "So... About that pizza?"

"...Yes", El said slowly, still eyeing the two boys that now both looked uncomfortable and embarrassed. She then turned to him with a small smile. "Pizza."

"Let's go, then", Max said as she got up, going over to give her friend a helping hand.

 

Once downstairs, El immediately walked over to Joyce, who had been studying the pizzeria's add, and into her arms. The woman cradled her close in return, smiling widely as she peppered her face in kisses. 

"Did you sleep well, sweetie?"

"Yes", she whispered back, relaxing into the embrace.

"You too, Mike?", Joyce asked over her shoulder.

"Y-yeah", he nodded, scratching at the back of his head awkwardly. 

"Good", the woman said, offering him a small smile before giving El's head a kiss. "We'll measure your fever while we wait for the food, okay sweetie?"

She nodded, letting her mother to walk her towards the counter, while the rest of the teens gathered around them and begun the long battle of the best toppings. 

El leaned onto Joyce's shoulder, looking at her friends and family in the dim kitchen, already feeling a lot better.

 

Jim rubbed at his temple as he leaned back in the chair.

"You don't believe me, do you?", Miranda bit out.

"What is his name?", he asked. "The man you kept in contact with, what's his name?"

"If I let that bit of information out to you, and you repeat it in a wrong place or write it down... It'll get both me and him killed."

Staring at her in silence, Jim waited for the woman to speak this time. She glanced at the door as they heard someone talk on the other side of it, but looked at him afterwards.

"Was it your son who came to Eleven?", she asked after a while. "The younger boy?"

"Both are", he nodded, casting his gaze onto the floor. "Him and the older one."

"She's very lucky", Miranda said slowly, "to get a family who love and care for her. The others didn't get that chance, no matter how hard I fought for them."

Jim frowned at the linoleum tiles. "How many are left?"

"Excluding her?", she asked, gaining a nod from the man. "None. Or one, but he has been missing since 1970. There's only a slight chance for him to even be alive."

"What happened to him?", he asked, his eyes finding hers again. "Did he escape?"

"He was the first to open the gate to the other dimension", Miranda said, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "He left there with a platoon, as everyone where scared that the gate would close on them, and neither him nor any of the thirty men returned. The portal sucked itself back in, and no one could stop it from happening."

"How old was he?"

She shook her head at him, in a silent plead to stop. "Don't go there..."

"He was only a boy, wasn't he? Had he even turned ten?"

Miranda cast her gaze away, biting her teeth together.

"You chose to work at the lab, for Brenner", Jim drawled. "You experimented on children, continuously put them into danger, just to use them in a war as weapons. What part of that sounds right to you? Because I like to think that I'm devoting my life to saving people and catching the bad guys, not being counted as one myself."

"I tried to keep them safe", she hissed at him, her previous calmness long gone. "I got kicked into another city, all because I cared too much. I got moved into other duties, which fit my educational background and experience, but I wanted nothing more than to be a babysitter. Does that make me a bad guy?"

"You knew what was going on. That's enough to be guilty on what they were doing."

"You have no right", Miranda told him, her voice louder and angrier than before. "It broke my heart to leave her there, but I had no choice. I-I went to the police at Indianapolis, told them everything I knew, but the man I spoke with..."

"He knew."

"He knew", the woman nodded, looking down at her hands on her lap.

Jim let out a deep sigh. "Hawkins National Laboratory, US Department of Energy, Hawkins Power And Light...", he listed in a low voice, leaning in once again. "And even some of the Police. How many more are there?"

Miranda shook her head at him, a sad smile briefly crossing her face. "Too many."

"Who pulls the strings?"

"I don't know if it's a company, larger corporation, or even the president of the USA", she said, frowning in thought. "That's what I've been trying to find out. All these years, and I still have no idea whether to hunt for a single person or a group."

"How could one person be in charge of all of this?"

"Money. That's their main weapon and cleanser - not army, not the children, nor Brenner's own experiments in the basement. That's how they got you out of their way, too."

"Money makes the world go round", the man said grimly.

"Exactly."

"What are you going to do now?", Jim asked after a moment of silence. "Are you safe here?"

Miranda sighed, glancing out of the window and at the darkening sky. "I'm not sure when I'll be released, but I'm positive that I have to get far away from here."

Nodding, the man glanced at the clock. It had been a long weekend and they had done a lot of work at the station already, to clear out the situation, but the interrogation part turned out to be more tiring than the endless phone calls and the papers he had already filled. 

"Anxious to get home to your family?", Miranda asked, getting his attention. 

"Of course", Jim murmured.

"Could you tell me something?", she asked softly, only now relaxing against to the pillows behind her back. "What is she like? And...what did you name her?"

The man nodded, casting his gaze down to his hands. "She chose her name... El - it was the first name she got. Jane was something her biological mother would have named her, but she felt it suited her better as a second name. And lastly, Hopper", he swallowed, smiling at the memory of the girl declaring her name in the middle of breakfast.

"El Jane Hopper", the woman hummed, smiling at his soft spoken words. "I like that." 

"She's...", Jim begun, clearing his throat. "She's amazing. The bravest, and the most selfless person I have ever known. Threw a basketball at a kid's face a few weeks back, because he fought with her friend", he chuckled, causing the woman to let out a small laugh. "She's a quick learner, good at math, loves to read..."

"She's a normal girl", Miranda finished for him. "And that's for the best."

He nodded, looking up at her again. "Do you think she wants to see you?", he asked slowly, letting out the question he had been thinking about ever since he stepped into the hospital room.

She thought about it for a while, looking around the room without really looking at anything. "If she did... I still wouldn't think that it's a good idea." 

Jim nodded, feeling how a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. 

"Go home to your family, chief Hopper", Miranda told him, before breaking into a small but honest smile - one that was directed at him, not something he said. "I'll call and warn you if something comes up, you can trust me on that. If not for you, but for her." 

 

Dinner was a lot louder and more relaxed, compared to lunch. They all gathered into the living room, the only light being the fireplace and the light that came from the kitchen. 

El sat between Nancy and Max, having asked the older girl to tell her everything she knew about New York - what she liked, hated, missed, and what she still wanted to see.

Meanwhile the boys discussed the nearing Christmas, from time to time wondering how they could get Max to play in the upcoming campaign too, but mostly trying to guess what presents they would get. 

And Jonathan and Joyce sat together, half of the time listening to the conversations happening in the room and the other half they spend on catching up on the most random things. 

"I found a better laundry place", he said after a while.

"You did?"

"Yeah, it's only a block further away", Jonathan chuckled. "No more weirdos stealing Nancy's clothes. We both got tired of that, but the first place was downstairs... I guess we hoped that it would end, since it was so close by."

"You should look for an apartment from a better area", Joyce said softly, putting her glass down. "We can even help you out, if it's about--."

"No, mom", he shook his head. "We can do this on our own, really."

Joyce pouted a little. "You'll tell us if you need help?"

"Yes, I promise."

She nudged his shoulder playfully. "You've grown into a man during these past months, and I'm just not used to it yet. Where's my baby Jonathan?"

"Someone has to be an adult", Jonathan pointed out with a smile, briefly glancing at Nancy. "...She buys so many expensive things, that I can't let her to the market on her own", he whispered after a while, causing his mother to laugh. 

"I feel bad for Jim", Will said as he leaned in from Jonathan's other side. "No offense mom, but he's the only real adult left here."

Joyce placed a hand over her heart. "No offense? What am I then?"

"...You're our mom", he said with a shy smile.

She ruffled his hair a little, before smiling apologetically at both of her boys. "You've both probably had your fare share of being the adult in the house, huh? 

"I begun cooking when I turned twelve, even before there were only the three of us", Jonathan pointed out softly. "Then I took over the laundry, when I noticed that you didn't bother separating reds from the whites."

"I didn't?", Joyce wondered, eyebrows slightly furrowing in thought.

"I wore pink socks through fourth grade", Will said with a snigger, causing his brother and mother to laugh. "I just didn't dare to point it out."

"My poor boys", their mother sighed then, reaching over to stroke her youngest son's cheek while she hugged the eldest to her side. "You've had to go through so much already... What if I let you be kids for a change, even you Jonathan now that you're home. Just be kids, don't worry about always doing the right thing, skip school a few times--."

"Mom?", Jonathan chuckled, as Will broke into a grin.

"--just some unimportant classes, you know what I mean", Joyce brushed them off, before looking at the both of them. "Just do things for fun, every now and then, promise me that." 

Will glanced at his brother, before he smiled widely at his mother. "Sure. I promise that, mom."

"Yeah, I guess I'll promise that too", Jonathan said slowly, still a little weirded out by the idea. 

"Good", she nodded at them both, before glancing over at her daughter. "And let's all help El achieve that as well - being a child", she added softly. "She's skipped far too many years, so she can be a child until she's... At least thirty years old."

"Try to convince her into that", Will pointed out, as he too turned to look at the girl. 

El was cuddled under a blanket with Max, the girls intently listening to Nancy's stories. 

Whenever Max broke into loud laughs, which happened quite often, El would only occasionally smile widely or hum out a laugh. Even before, she rarely laughed in a way that made her double over due to cramps in the stomach, or that brought tears into her eyes. But something told them that it would now be an even harder task to achieve.

No one shied away from the challenge, though, no matter how hard it was. 

El definitely deserved a childhood, and a happy one at that.


	50. Forever's gonna start tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. Ready for the last chapter?
> 
> Me neither.

**Forever's gonna start tonight**

 

Nancy and the boys said that they would drop Max home first, who rolled her eyes in defeat from her place on the front seat. 

"Fine", the girl grumbled, slumping down a little. She did live on the opposite direction, after all, but still... She wouldn't have minded little more time with everyone.

"You know, I'm actually quite glad we did all our homework on Friday, right after school", Lucas spoke up slowly, after a few minutes of silence. "Otherwise we still would need to do them."

"I was right on that", Dustin pointed out, sounding slightly smug, before he sighed. "It feels like a week, although it's been two days."

"Yeah", Mike mumbled, keeping his gaze on the houses they passed by. 

He had felt dull immediately after pulling away from a hug with El, which the two had shared just before he had left, and now the feeling was accompanied with an aching in his chest. 

If he weren't so young, he would have thought he was having a heart attack - the feeling was so uncomfortable, so tight and oppressing. The feelings he had for her... There were no words that he could use, that would describe them perfectly. 

They were a lot more than just words.

After she had disappeared two years before, vanished right before his eyes, he had spend a year wondering if she would come back. He had longed for a girl who he had just met, but who had scarred him so deep with her whole being that he couldn't forget about her. He just couldn't let go.

But against all the odds, all the doubts - she did return. And when she did, the following year had flew by him so fast that it was now only a fuzzy blur of happy memories. 

He could finally breath again, with her by his side. 

He could enjoy the rain, the snow, and the way the sun burned his skin in the summer. He could enjoy the cold, because she was there and he felt warm while making sure she wasn't freezing.

After that one year... two days without her had felt like a week. 

And two hours believing that she was dead, along with Will... 

They had felt like the end of everything. 

"Just get through this week, then it's Christmas", Nancy said, her voice gentle but advising. "You'll have time to be together then", she added, subtly glancing at her brother from the rear mirror. 

But Mike kept looking out of the window, not hearing a word, while wondering how bad it would be if he didn't go to school on the next day. He had skipped a day to be with El before too, that was nothing new, but this time he would also have to sneak to her house. And stealthy wasn't really one of his traits.

"I'm so glad we're staying home next week", Lucas said with a sigh. "I actually feel like I'm too tired to even think about going around states..."

"Well, I'm going to my grandparents and cousins' again", Dustin mumbled tiredly, leaning his head back. "I just hope we're not gone for the whole week, like last year. Because that, if something, was tiring."

Max glanced behind, eyebrows slightly furrowed when her gaze met with the blue eyes. He offered her a small grin, to which she slowly answered, before she turned back around again. The smile didn't leave her face for a few good minutes, either.

"Is it this one?", Nancy asked as she slowed down, peering out of the window. 

"Yeah."

"Is no one home?"

Shrugging, Max took her backpack from her feet. "I'll see that in a minute", she said while opening the door, and then got out in one swift movement. "Thanks for the ride!"

The door slammed shut before anyone in the car had the chance to say anything.

Dustin's eyebrows furrowed as he watched Max walk around the car, before he glanced at her house. It was completely dark. Not even a single light on the porch was on.

"We're not leaving before she gets inside", Nancy muttered, following the girl's retreating back with her gaze. "If no one was home on Saturday, when Jim tried to call there, and neither her mom nor Billy asked after her..." 

Lucas, who sat on the middle seat, nudged his friend to the side. "Go."

And Dustin didn't need to be told twice. 

He got out of the car and jogged his way to the porch and to Max, who turned to him with her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"What is it?", she asked him, looking confused. "Did I forget something?"

"Just...", he breathed out as he shrugged, stopping by her side awkwardly, "...making sure you get home."

The girl chuckled at him while getting her key out of her pocket. "Right", she said slowly, before opening the door and revealing a dark front hall. "Well, I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?", Dustin asked gently, looking at her with furrowed eyebrows. 

Max let out a sigh as she turned to look at him, knowing what he was thinking. "You know, I'm alone most of the time. I'm fine. Besides, it's not like I could go to El's now that she's sick..."

That was when Dustin truly realized how much the girls had sleepovers during the week. On regular school nights too, to which he had never really paid any attention to before. 

"But, anyway", Max said, startling him from his thoughts. "You should go now, they're waiting for you."

"Are you sure?", he repeated dumbly, causing her to chuckle.

"Yeah, just go", she ushered him, a small smile playing on her lips as she looked at him. "I'll just eat something and head to bed. I don't want to fall asleep on my feet."

"Oh, okay", Dustin said slowly, taking a few unsure steps backwards. "I'll see you in school then, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow", Max smirked at him. She then flicked on the lights to the hall with one hand, from where she stood by the door. Her house didn't look as empty and sad as it had before, but it still didn't ease the boy's mind. "Bye, Dustin."

"Bye", the boy murmured, offering her a brief smile, before he turned around and begun walking back to the car. He heard the door close behind him soon after, but wasn't sure anymore if taking her home was good or a bad thing. 

It felt wrong, leaving her alone.

Dustin went to the backseat again, which now had more space than before as Mike had switched to sit on the front while he was gone. 

"No one was home", he huffed, fastening his seatbelt.

"Yeah?", Mike asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he turned to look at him. 

"Billy's probably at a friend's house or something", Lucas said slowly, glancing at both of his friends in wonder, "...but where does her mom go?"

"I don't know", Dustin sighed, his gaze fixed on the house. The whole downstairs was now lit up, making it look just like all the other houses on the street. But only from the outside. "They both seem to come and go whenever they feel like..."

"If my parents were like that, I'd hate it", Lucas muttered.

"Does she have your number?", Nancy asked, slowly beginning to drive them away. 

"All of ours, why?", Dustin said, tearing his gaze away from the house only when he couldn't see it anymore.

"Just checking."

 

Max closed the front door with a sigh, before turning on her spot and glancing to the dark rooms joined with the hall. All she could hear was the low ticking of the grandfather clock, its familiarity easing the knot on her stomach.

She dropped her backpack by the staircase and walked her normal round around the rooms downstairs, flicking on all the lights on her way, stopping only when she reached the kitchen. 

The empty beer bottles on the counters, along with an overfilled ashtray, only reminded her of the few parties Billy had had while she had been home. Fortunately she had been elsewhere this time.

The fridge hadn't been filled since she had last been home - or if it had, someone had emptied it right afterwards. Sniffing the milk was a bad idea, as she could have just tilted the bottle and looked for lumps instead. Trying not to gag, she closed the cork and dumped it straight into trash.

Disgusting. So long for cereals, apparently.

When she turned around, wondering if there was something she could eat or if her mother really wanted her to starve, she noticed a crumbled-up bill among the junk on the table. 

She didn't think twice about taking it.

Max then headed upstairs, after giving up on food and grabbing her backpack on the way, closing all the other doors on her way except for her own. 

Once she was safely in her room, she tucked the money into her backpack's front pocket, hoping that no one would miss it. 

She really wasn't up for a fight about it.

 

After Max had took a shower and got dressed for bed, the low growl of her bother's Camaro's engine caused her to quickly glance out of the window. She closed her curtains and dimmed the lights, before she went to lock her door. 

Maybe she could play it off as if she was sleeping, at least. She knew that the lights downstairs were still on and while Billy might have been an idiot of some sort, he wasn't stupid enough to ignore them.

Not able to concentrate onto anything else, she stayed there for a few minutes, listening to the footsteps that travelled around the house downstairs.

_"Mom?"_

Rolling her eyes, Max snorted. Her car was gone, how could he not see that? She leaned closer to the door, waiting to hear something else, but it was quiet.

The sudden wiggle of the door handle startled her, causing the girl to take a few steps backwards.

_"I know you're there."_

Trying to stick to her plan, Max held her breath and waited for him to go away.

 _"I saw your lights were on, from outside"_ , the low voice spoke again, sounding angrier than before. 

"So what?", she spat, voice only slightly trembling as her heart kept thrumming in a fast beat. "Go away!"

_"Don't be a brat."_

"Don't be a dick."

 _"I know you took the money"_ , Billy drawled out. _"You can't be there forever."_

Max's fists tensed as she glared at the door. "Can't you fuck off now? I just got home, I don't need this--."

 _"You came home to steal from me, is that it?"_ , he yelled suddenly, his voice booming in the hallway, before something banged against her door. _"You're such a bitch, just like your mom!"_

"You don't need to live here, you idiot! Just leave me alone!", she yelled back. He then banged her door again, and she took another cautious step away from it. "Stop kicking my fucking door!"

 _"Just give me back the money"_ , Billy said slowly, sounding as if he was hissing the words past his teeth. _"It's not yours, and I need it."_

"What money?", Max asked, trying to sound as confused as she could, glancing at her backpack.

 _"...You want to do it like this?"_ , he huffed from the other side of the door, soon letting out a low chuckle. _"Fine."_

Frozen on her place, she stared at the door, quickly glancing at the handle. But nothing happened, no matter how long she waited. 

And Max wasn't sure if waiting for it was worse, than what he would eventually do.

 

Getting El back to bed in the evening, after everyone had been sent to their homes, was harder than Jim had thought the task could ever be. 

He knew how much she detested the idea, how much she wanted to stay up and just be with everyone else. But the truth was that she needed the rest - and the more she got the better.

"El, honey", Jim murmured, after coming to stand in the doorway of the girl's room, "you should go back to bed."

She looked up at him from where she was lying on the floor, Rocket glued to her side and under the same blanket as her, with comic books scattered all around. He had no idea how she could even read without the lamp in the ceiling, as the one on her desk barely reached her. 

Still, the sight caused him to smile. He couldn't even describe how much he had missed her, and having her back home was something he had thought impossible roughly half a day ago. 

"You have all day free tomorrow, and you can spend it reading if you want."

Furrowing her eyebrows, El cleared her throat. "I want to go to school." 

Jim chuckled, shaking his head, before he walked fully inside the room and sat down into the armchair. 

"You're probably the only teen who'd rather go to school, than stay at home", he said, an amused smile briefly gracing his face, but it faded once he saw that she didn't answer to it. "Honey, you're sick. There's no way we're letting you go to school tomorrow."

She looked away from him, fixing her gaze onto the still open comic on the floor. 

"I know that everything probably seems...out of place", he murmured after a while, watching her twist a corner of a page while listening to him. "I don't know everything that happened, and you don't need to tell me right away, but when you're ready... You can always come to me."

He watched El furrow her eyebrows and scrunch up her nose a little, as she begun to straighten up the nook she had been bending before. 

"...Even at night?", the girl whispered then, still not meeting his eyes. 

"Yes, around the clock. Like always."

Nodding her head, after what could've been a minute, El carefully closed the comic. 

"Why don't you want to stay home tomorrow?", Jim asked, breaking into a gentle smile when she finally looked at him. "You can sleep for as long as you want, eat as much ice cream as you can, read those comics...", he trailed off after gesturing to the books around her, not sure what else to say. 

"I don't want to", she muttered.

"Honey, everyone is sick sometimes. You're allowed to stay home and get better."

El rested the side of her head on top of Rocket's, taking a hold of his paw, and the dog didn't even seem to notice. "...Not alone."

"We wouldn't even want to leave you by yourself", Jim confessed, his eyebrows high on his forehead. "Will stays at home, and Jonathan will be here too. You could even call Nancy in the morning, ask if she would want to stop by. And you know that she wants to."

"Really?", El whispered as she stroked the dog's long snout with a finger, who in turn tried to lick her hand whenever it came near enough.

"Yes, really", the man chuckled, standing up from the chair. "Now help me out a little, I'm too old to lift you up from the floor."

"You're not old", she said softly, but scrambled up anyway - not forgetting to tuck her blanket around the dog better before doing so. Her eyes then found his, still as red as before, and she slowly walked over for a hug. 

"Do you want to sleep with us tonight?", Jim murmured, bringing up a hand to gently stroke at the girl's hair.

"--don't need to", El rasped out, having already had the same conversation with Joyce before, "I can sleep here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes", she mumbled, before glancing up at him briefly. "You took long."

"Yeah", Jim nodded. He looked down at the girl, who had already turned her gaze away and was staring at a window. "We had a lot of phone calls to do, some papers to fill... Then I went to the hospital, in the afternoon--."

"Why?"

"I had to interrogate Miranda", he said slowly, and felt how the girl tensed in his arms. One hand still stroking her hair, he rubbed her back with the other. "...She's feeling better."

Jim had no clue of what he would, or should, tell her. He had played different possible conversations in his head the whole way back to the station, all the way from the hospital, then later the whole way home. 

And as he waited for her to say something, El stayed quiet and simply waited for him to continue instead - he knew she did. 

"She told me a lot."

"What did she say?", the girl whispered.

"You could tell me too, if you'd like", he said gently. 

She shook her head a little, before leaning the side of it against him.

"Honey, you do know that there's no danger anymore, right?", Jim murmured, slowly stroking the back of her head as he spoke. "There's no one who would want to harm you, take you away, or hurt anyone of us... You're safe, even if you don't feel like it yet."

El bit her teeth together, trying to stop herself from crying as she kept her gaze on the floor. 

"But everything will be okay. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but it'll be okay...", he whispered, and trailed off when he felt her tremble in his arms. 

Screwing her eyes shut, the girl let out a ragged breath.

"Just cry it out, honey...", Jim sighed, rubbing her back slowly. "Just cry it out."

And El complied, her loud sobs instantly filling the room.

 

Will wiped the tears from his eyes when Jonathan came to his room, pushing himself to sit up from where he had already been laying down in bed. 

"I was coming to check on you, but you're still up", his brother whispered, closing the door behind himself. 

"Can't sleep."

Jonathan walked over, sat to the foot of his bed and let out a sigh. "How are you holding up?", he asked softly, obviously eyeing the teen with slight worry. 

"I'm fine", Will muttered, sniffling as he looked down to his hands.

"Jim just came home."

"I know, he just went to El", the boy swallowed, twisting his fingers in thought. "She's..."

"...I heard her." 

"Y-yeah."

They were quiet for a few seconds, and could immediately hear the muffled up cries from the other side of the wall. Jonathan cleared his throat, either trying to cover the sound or cut the tension in the room. It somehow worked for both.

"We are staying, me and Nancy, over Christmas", he begun softly, offering a small smile to the boy by his side. "Mom said that you're staying home for a few days too, so we'll have even more time to catch up."

"Cool", Will hummed softly, briefly glancing at his brother's way. 

"Let's just think of something nice to do, with the three of us during the day... I'm sure your friends are going to rush in here, as soon as school ends."

Nodding slowly, the boy looked at the window, his room being dim enough to see outside. His eyes widened at what he saw. 

"It's snowing", he breathed out.

Turning around so that he too could see, Jonathan's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Wow."

Letting out a startled laugh, Will concentrated a little, gently nudging El with their connection and with the amazement of seeing the first snow of the year.

It felt so meaningful, knowing how much she loved it. 

It was as if the sky celebrated her return.

 

Mike stood by his window, leaning to the windowsill and looking at the falling snowflakes with a goofy grin. He couldn't wait to see El on the next day, even though she shouldn't go outside with her fever. 

Butterflies begun storming inside of him from the cheer restlessness.

He thought about taking some snow inside for her, like a snowball or something, but soon frowned at his own idea and how stupid it was. 

But there were other things they could do, without her having to suffer in the cold air. They could watch the snow from the inside, sit by a window while wrapped up in blankets, maybe cuddle a little... 

Blushing even at the thought, he turned away from the window.

He knew better than well that everyone else would be there too, and not just the two of them. Which was disappointing, he could admit it, but that was just how it was. They all were really close and no matter how annoying it could be, he wouldn't have their group any other way.

A knock on the door startled him, causing him to grab onto the nearest object in an attempt to look like he had been doing something. "Yeah?", he breathed out, eyes on the door.

His mother peeked into his room, amused smile immediately plastered onto her face. "Are you doing homework this late?", she asked, causing him to follow her gaze and look down to his hand.

"Ah, um, no", Mike stuttered, his eyebrows furrowing at the book. "We... We have history tomorrow, so...", he trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Your backpack is downstairs, you should put that in there today so you won't forget."

"Yeah", he said slowly, balancing the thick book with both hands, turning to look at his mother in wonder. "So, um...?"

Karen closed the door behind herself, before she sat down to the edge of his bed. 

"I didn't know that you and El were dating", she said slowly, as if testing the words, and by the looks of it trying not to smile widely.

"Mom", Mike groaned.

"It's just... you and Nancy neither talk about these things", she huffed, sending him a soft glare. "I should know - I am your mother after all." 

"That's j-just...", he stuttered, turning his gaze away in embarrassment.

"Joyce and Jim knew, while your father and I had no clue."

"...Sorry."

Karen blinked at him, softening at the way he squirmed where he stood. "How long have you been together?", she asked, letting go of the stern tint on her voice. 

Mike's face blushed fiery red, while he fiddled with the book. "Since last summer, when we went camping."

"Really?", Karen gushed softly. 

"Y-yeah."

"How did you ask her?"

"Um, she... I think she, kind of, asked me...", he mumbled out, for some reason waiting for his mother to laugh but it never happened.

"Okay", she said softly, causing the teen to look at her shyly. "I hope you remember to treat her well, that you do not hurt her, and that you realize both of your age--."

"Mom!", he whined, his voice breaking. "Just _no_."

"Oh Michael, you've had your sex education at school already", Karen reminded him with a snort, brushing off his complaints. "But you're still too young to--."

" _No!_ "

"--to do anything like that", she finished her sentence slowly, eyebrows raised in amusement as she watched him. "Fine, I'll stop. I'm just hoping that you remember that you can speak to me freely."

"Thank you", he muttered, turning away with a blush on his face. He placed the history book onto his desk with a thud.

"Shouldn't you take that to your backpack? Otherwise you'll forget it."

"I-I don't have history tomorrow", Mike said slowly, biting his lip. "I just grabbed it when you knocked. I don't know why I said that I had it, it was just, you kind of startled me I guess..."

"Oh, okay", Karen nodded slowly, breaking into a smile at his soft spoken, although nervous words. 

"I was thinking, that...", he continued then, voice thin and cracking a little. "Would it be so bad, if I didn't go to school tomorrow?"

His mother's smile only grew wider. "I will have to ask Joyce in the morning, if she will let you go over to their house." 

"Yeah?", Mike said in surprise, turning to her wide eyed.

Karen stood up from the bed, nodding her head. "It's only one day. I could call you sick, if Joyce thinks it's okay, and then drive you over there. But you just have to remember that El really is sick, and she needs to rest."

"I know", he nodded fast. "I-I just want to be there."

Wrapping her son into an embrace, Karen stroked the back of his unruly hair. "I know. But I have a feeling, that she would like for you to be there, too."

Mike simply nodded, hugging his mother back and feeling lighter than before their conversation.

 

Lucas opened his eyes and immediately glanced around his dark room, wondering what woke him up. He didn't feel like he could have heard something, before he had woke up, nor that he had seen a nightmare.

His heart was calm and room quiet. 

He then remembered falling asleep with his supercom in hand, and frantically patted around his bed in an order to find it. After untangling it from his sheets, he put it into receiving mode and pushed the button.

"Is someone there?", he whispered, keeping his voice as down as he could.

And he knew that he was testing the waters, that there was no way that he could have felt it, but--.

 _"Lucas?"_

It was just barely more audible than the quietest whisper, but he heard it anyway. 

"Will?", he breathed out. "You up? Over."

 _"Y-yeah, it's me"_ , the boy said slowly, sniffling. _"I had a nightmare...over."_

Lucas frowned a little, laying back down. "Want to talk about it?", he asked softly, placing the supercom by his head. "Over."

 _"She..."_ , Will whispered slowly, trailing off for a few long seconds. _"She didn't wake up, Lucas, s-she didn't..."_

Feeling as if his throat was trying to close up on him, Lucas squeezed his eyes shut while waiting for the other boy to continue. 

_"When I woke up, I-I went to her... I thought that...t-that it happened again, that she wasn't breathing"_ , the whispered words came between the sobs, _"b-but she wasn't there..."_

Lucas choked on a sudden sob, pressing the button when the silence continued far too long for him to bear with. "What do you mean, Will? Over."

 _"I-I thought I made it all up."_

Squeezing his free hand into a tight fist, closing his eyes due to the broken words, the teen tried to come up with something, at least something to say. 

"You didn't make it up, Will, you didn't", Lucas choked out, trying to control his breathing and not to worry his friend. "She's alive and home, you know that... It's alright."

 _"Yeah"_ , Will said in a whisper, before he let out a soft chuckle. _"She is."_

Breaking into a tiny smile, Lucas kept his eyes closed. "You found her, right?", he whispered. "Where was she?"

_"With mom and Jim...asleep."_

"Just like we both should be."

The silence that followed was longer than in a while, making Lucas beyond nervous. The familiar rattle saved him from his misery, and he waited for the familiar voice with a quickening heartbeat.

_"I'm sorry for keeping you up."_

"I think I woke up for this", the boy whispered, feeling a little bit giddy due to his own words. "To talk with you, to keep you company... And honestly, I don't mind."

_"...Thank you."_

Lucas chuckled softly, his smile widening even more. He could hear Will's own smile from the boy's voice, and it made him inexplicably happy. "Let's go to sleep, okay?"

_"We probably should... Goodnight, Lucas."_

"Goodnight, Will. I'll see you tomorrow." 

The soft chuckle that came through the supercom made Lucas want to squirm around. 

_"See you tomorrow."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N. THANK YOU ALL for the comments, the kudos, the love, and the support <3 
> 
> This has been one hellishly long emotional rollercoaster and if you enjoyed it at least a little, I'm glad. 
> 
> Love you all, goodnight xx
> 
> (And no, this is NOT the end, if you still want me to continue with part II.)
> 
> ALSO MATES tumblr >> radiantraisin (if you dont have one, go check my ig from there) I'm always open for a new convo! 
> 
>  
> 
> (Leaving a comment behind at this point would be much appreciated, I would like to know how many of you actually make it here.)


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